


Alone in a Sea of Stars

by panda_bear21



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alien Biology, Alien Harry, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Alternate Universe - Space, Astronauts, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-26
Updated: 2016-07-26
Packaged: 2018-07-12 13:10:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 21,913
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7105831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/panda_bear21/pseuds/panda_bear21
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>He shifted his helmet, where it was still in his hands, watching the fluorescent lights shine off of Harry’s hair and reflect off his skin.</i><br/><i>Louis knew he would have to let Harry leave, but before doing so he licked over his dry lips, asking genuinely, “So are you going to follow me back to the ship again tomorrow or…?”</i><br/><i>Harry smiled in reply, dimples going all soft and sweet.  “Going to wait until right before you close the doors again so you have no choice but to keep me.”</i><br/><i>Louis felt his skin warming and a small laugh bubbling up from his chest, as he bit down on his lower lip to stop his smile from growing.  He cleared his throat, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.  I could probably kick you out right now if I wanted.”  The thing was, Louis knew he wouldn’t.  He could wait at least ten more minutes before he let Harry leave.  Maybe even twenty.</i><br/> </p><p>Based on the prompt: Louis is an astronaut who is sent to Neptune and really he expected to find a few old rocks but instead he found some kid who claims to be ten thousand years-old</p>
            </blockquote>





	Alone in a Sea of Stars

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bughead](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bughead/gifts).



> Title taken from the quote by anonymous:  
> "No one grows tired of the moon,  
> It is cratered with imperfections,  
> It has a dark side.  
> It is all alone in a sea of stars.  
> He was the moon on earth,  
> And I would never grow tired of him."
> 
> A big thank you to my beta, [elizamackenzie](http://archiveofourown.org/users/elizamackenzie) for helping me with this story! I couldn't have done it without you!
> 
> Also, to jesy, who this fic was created for, I really hope you enjoy it!

 

Louis was buzzing, thrumming with energy he hadn’t felt since he’d first learned he’d be going on the mission.  This was his dream, had been his dream since he’d been five and his mom had gotten him a limited edition Space Shooter Rocket Ship-- with removable parts.  He used to steal his sisters’ Astronaut Barbie’s to enact the most epic outer space adventures.  And he knew he needed to keep his head, that he probably wouldn’t _really_ find anything except a few rocks, but it was only one day until he’d be exploring the new frontier.

When his phone rang, he knew it would be his mom.  They’d agreed to talk again before his trip.  Even though he had just seen his family for two weeks a month before.

The thought of all the time he would miss was disconcerting, and it picked at his chest all the same.  Picked and tugged on each of his heart strings when the years flickered through his mind, every moment he wouldn’t be able to have with his family.  His mom would be eighteen years older when he got back, and he would only have aged thirteen.

Time was different out there.  He’d studied the books, he knew.  His sisters would be older than him by the time he got back too, they would have families and different lives.  He tried to shove those unsettling thoughts from his mind when he picked up the phone, with a quiet breath.  “Hey, mom.”

Hearing his mother’s voice was both the best and the worst thing he could listen to the day before he was supposed to leave.  Her voice was calm, lilted with affection, and bright with happiness.  Even though he could tell she was trying to hide how much she would miss him.

He would miss her too...  He wouldn’t be able to hear her prattle on about Dan and the kids for so, so long.  His chest ached when he thought about it.

He knew he had chosen his dreams over starting a family himself, he knew, and he wasn’t exactly upset about it.  But he would miss his siblings’ weddings, if they had them.  He would miss the twin’s graduations.  Phoebe and Daisy growing up. 

He at least had an excuse to get a bit teary eyed when his mother and Felicite started crying over the phone.  They had done the same thing when he had left home after his mini vacation.  Had hugged him like it was the last time they would.  He wanted to hug them again.  He followed the seam of his pants with his fingertip instead, following the motion with stinging eyes.

He could tell Lottie was a bit teary eyed herself, and he suddenly wasn’t as excited about leaving the very next day.  Maybe in a week he’d be ready to go… to leave them.

He knew it was a lie.

He spoke to them for the rest of the night, the rest of his siblings too, when his mother finally let them have the phone, shooting off a few last texts to his friends and acquaintances.  He would be going to Neptune with a new rocket the station had created just for their mission.  Its advanced technologies cutting down the travel time to approximately eight Earth years there, with time spent on the planet, two. 

He hadn’t thought he would’ve been able to fall asleep that night, thinking he would be too excited for his journey, but he did, if not because crying always exhausted him.  At least, in sleeping, he wouldn’t have to think about just how much he would miss his family.

//*\\\//*\\\//*\\\

His final day on earth, the energy Louis had the day before was back in full force.  Just seeing the building that he’d been training at for years reminded him of why he was so excited.  He was practically whirring through the halls of the station towards their locker room.  Jumping on the first human he saw, which fortunately happened to be Liam.  He threw a hand over Liam’s shoulder when he saw him, pulling him into a crushing hug, both their grins way too wide to be natural, “Payno!  Up for it?”

“As up for it as I’ll ever be, Tommo.”  He was already half changed into their gear, at least the bottom half.  His top half was covered in a navy blue skin tight thermal instead.  Niall called out a whoop from behind some lockers.  Louis’ grin grew even larger as he whooped back, moving over to change himself.  He was going to space with his two best mates.  He was a lucky bastard. 

A three-person mission to Neptune, to judge whether it was potentially a habitable planet, and to do tests of course.  Louis almost forgot to pee before he put on his suit, he was so eager, chattering with the others about how it was finally the day.

Their ground team had already implemented a few last tests on them and they were almost ready to go.  Liam called his girlfriend one last time, Niall chatting and laughing with a few of their coworkers.  Louis stood near the dock, looking out through the floor to ceiling windows at the rocket they’d be taking, at his home for the next 13.3 years.  He was ready.

Niall broke him out of his reverie and the three of them headed out to the launch pad, headsets in place so they could hear the command center.  He had already put his phone away in his locker, after sending out one last text to his family, a bunch of heart emoji’s and rocket ships’.  He knew they would be watching his rocket launch and it made him happy in a whole new sense.

He strapped in with the other two, going through the routine they’d practiced so many times before, checking that everything was set to go.  He could hear the voices from the command center in his ear and it wasn’t long before the countdown began.

His heart rate picked up with every number that decreased, the sound of the rockets powering up beneath them and the vibration of the hull shaking him.  He was strapped in, the side of his helmet blocking him from seeing if Niall’s and Liam’s expressions were just as animated as his own.

It was deafening when they began lifting off, Louis’ body pressing back into the cushion of his seat.  He made sure to keep his eyes open the entire time, to remember every little detail.  Even if he was just staring at the white walls of their space shuttle.

The speed picked up again when they fell out of first stage to hit the second with a running start, and they continued talking to the ground control as they went, it finally quieting enough for his ears to pick up the noise.

He could hear the cheering and joy in the voices of their ground team through his headset when they were finally welcomed to space, the rocket falling out of the Earth’s stratosphere.

A successful launch.

He beamed even brighter, his pulse already beating with enthusiasm.  He couldn’t wait to finally see what he’d wanted to ever since he knew what stars and planets were.

He remembered stargazing when he had been in school, during his summers and sometimes even in the frigid winter months, when it grew too boring in his house and he missed seeing them.  He wondered how amazing it would be to see them up close like he would so, so soon.

The three of them pushed up their visors, exchanging hi-fives and thumbs up.  Liam and Niall were grinning just as wide as he was.

They waited until they were given the go to unbuckle and begin moving around.  Louis immediately shot off towards the nearest window, the zero gravity making the process much slower than he would’ve liked.  Though it was an entirely new experience in itself and had him laughing, flipping over to get to the window, pushing off of Niall’s shoulder to disrupt his own path.

He held onto the ledge once he got there, to stop himself from floating away, eyes immediately soaking up the sight outside.  Millions of stars surrounded them, planets of varying colors off in the far distance.  He swore he could see Mars.  Though he might’ve been making that up.  His breath caught, the starlight melting into the darkness, bright blues and yellows and reds.  Small twinkling colors the further away they were, the larger, brighter ones closer and still unbelievable in their magnificence.

Liam’s and Niall’s words of awe drew him over to the opposite side, where the Earth sat in perfect stillness right there, right in front of him.  Louis couldn’t believe he was finally seeing it, actually seeing the movement of it as it turned.  Its incredible size.  Louis could see the weather patterns, clouds, clear and soft white, blanketing and swirling over the cool surface. The pictures he used to look up online paled in such comparison to the real thing.

Louis couldn’t tear his eyes away.  He didn’t need to, there was only minimal setup they needed to accomplish that day.  And he was fine with waiting to do it, until much, much later.

Niall and Liam seemed to agree as they began commenting on every little detail Louis had already noticed.  He joined in, hardly moving from his spot except to push at the ceiling to make sure he didn’t float too high as to be unable to continue gaping out the window.

Just the view, and Louis knew he was where he was meant to be.

//*\\\//*\\\//*\\\

They needed to turn on the gravity in their spacecraft, a new installation that had been developed just for their mission, and that Louis thought was absolutely incredible just in itself.

Of course, they didn’t get around to doing so until after playing around in the zero gravity for a bit, shoving off of every surface and trying to outdo one another in how many flips they could make. 

Yes, they were incredibly serious scientists.

Their laughing and general immaturity really proved that to be the case.

Louis knew they needed to enjoy everything they could while it happened, though.  They would have eight years of space travel ahead of them and things would grow monotonous eventually.

The three of them ran tests, took pictures, drifted in space, amazed by everything surrounding them.  They called in to headquarters for as long as they could, until they were too far out of range for a connection to pick them up.

Louis knew the command center still had their coordinates and were aware of exactly where they were, but it was suddenly so much lonelier, bigger, out there with only Liam and Niall for company.  In the silence of space, the only noise the vibration of their spaceship and their intermittent chattering.

They continued making infrequent recordings with data they had collected and how things were faring.  Louis worked out every day, did his research, did experiments (as many as they could, moving through space), played cards with the other two and kicked around a football he’d been glad to have brought. 

Somedays were just exhausting.  Louis still loved looking out the window and never bored of knowing he was in space, but he found he thought about home a lot in those quiet hours.  About his mom and sisters, and little Ernie.  About the friends and professors he had left behind, who had been so happy for him when they’d heard he’d be accomplishing his dream.

He sometimes worried whether Liam, Niall, and he had enough supplies to keep them alive and breathing for such a long journey.  The thoughts usually dying down a little when he checked their gauges and inventory.  And when Niall told him he was being a worry-wart, giving him a reassuring jab to the side.

Louis knew he was.  And he enjoyed Niall’s reassurances.  They were definitely welcomed when all three of them would stay up late, talking in low voices about everything they were missing, Liam: his girlfriend, Louis and Niall: their families.  Talking about what scared them most and what their deepest dreams were.

Louis admitted that he hoped when they got back he’d be able to find someone to settle down with.  Someone he could sleep beside during lonely nights and talk to about anything and everything.  Liam sympathized, grinning like mad when he talked about wanting to propose to his girlfriend.  Niall laughed, seemingly unworried about such things and seeming more interested to get back to the sporting matches and pubs.

Niall did talk a lot about missing the beaches though, and both Louis and Liam lamented in understanding.  Louis, personally, would be taking a nice long vacation with his family when he got back.  That was definitely happening.

When the three of them headed off to bed that night, everything sat a bit lighter on their chests.  Louis did feel a sense of wonder though, thinking about not coming home to a significant other like Liam.

He thought about what kind of person he might marry someday, after closing his eyes.  Probably someone nice, and funny, and clever, with a cute face and the prettiest smile.  Maybe they would be taller than him, with an obnoxiously endearing personality.  Yeah, Louis knew that would be his next adventure, after he got back from the one he was currently on.  Finding his future.

He felt more at ease, sliding the blankets further up over his shoulder.

And when he woke up, he had a renewed vigor, continuing about his daily tasks with a brighter smile and a jump in his step.  If that was due to the fact Niall had allowed the zero gravity to come back in to the cabin that was no one’s business.  He was feeling lighter than before, just imagining all the possibilities ahead of him.

And he even had the rest of their journey to look forward to.  His first dream, coming true right before his eyes.  Louis loved space, but he knew that when he found his future, their eyes would probably gleam just a bit brighter than the stars and the thought made him feel electric. 

He put it to the back of his mind though, he had time to think about it later.  He was on a mission then, and it needed to be his top priority.

Top priority meaning they still had downtime.  Lots of downtime.

Holidays were the best way to pass the six years of space travel.  When some days got dull, they would make up their own holidays to have something to celebrate.  Something to look forward to.  Often things as simple as ‘Niall Showered Today-Mas’ and ‘It’s Liam’s Two-Month Post Birthday!’.  They would have competitions on who could count the most number of stars, none of them really winning because they couldn’t be exact in how many they saw... and they usually just made up numbers in the end.  They would eat the sweetest packets of food they had, trying not to get too sad about the lack of cake and sweets.

For ‘Louis Claims Himself King-day’ Liam carried Louis around on his back the entire twenty-four hours.  He only complained mildly, but it was worth it.  It had come after a relatively recent truce, after Liam and Louis had gotten into a pretty petty spat the few days before.

The two of them tended to get the most irritated with each other out of all three, Niall painstakingly having to put up with it.  It was hard not to have little moments of irritation when they were practically living in each other’s pockets.

Niall would sometimes go off the rails if he’d had consecutive days of not getting enough sleep.  But a good solid nap usually solved that issue.  They all dealt with their infrequent frustrations like adults, and their spats never lasted long.  They were all best friends and they were all getting into their late twenties.  They could work through their issues.

Plus, eating dinner together every day forced them to get over any problems they had with one another.  And a few quiet hours reading a book or relaxing with a board game usually put things into perspective.

Louis could feel himself getting older.  He was probably exaggerating slightly when he complained about his bones getting creaky, but maybe the stiffness in his limbs wasn’t completely made up.  He definitely wasn’t the twenty-five-year-old who’d started off on their journey.

They exchanged home-made cards for their ‘Congrats, We Hit the Six Year Mark Day!’ crudely colored in with their singular box of crayons and some blank paper.  They knew they were close to Neptune, if their projections and the path they had taken had been correct.  It was all down to waiting.  Just a little bit more.

Only a few weeks later, when Louis had just finished collecting his files for the research they would be conducting, Liam called him over to the window he was looking out of.  Disbelief coloring his tone and wonder in his eyes, had Louis immediately moving with a quickened pace.  He looked out to what Liam was staring at, his own eyes widening and the back of his teeth tingling when he sucked in a cool breath.

There was a thrumming deep in his stomach, as he stared down at the blue planet, a thought that maybe his epic outer space adventure really hadn’t even started yet.  That, maybe it was about to.

Eight Earth years later, six years in space, and they were finally there.  Neptune.

//*\\\//*\\\//*\\\

They started doing tests the day they landed on the planet’s icy surface.  Testing the air, ground, and wind speeds, taking pictures of the topography before they would risk going out.

It was a week after they landed that Louis left the ship for the first time.  Liam volunteering to stay back so that Niall and Louis could go out first.

Leaving the shuttle after so long was almost surreal.  The sky was dark, lit with only pinpricks of starry light, as Louis had come to expect.  And it was amazing, moving around on a planet that wasn’t Earth.  Neptune had thirteen moons, though when Louis looked up he could only count five.

He walked further from the spacecraft, the ground frozen solid beneath them, icy in patches.  Fortunately, not slick enough to be slippery.  It was silent, out there alone.  Though he could hear Niall a moment later, talking in his ear through the helmet, whooping with excitement and chattering to Liam about how amazing it was to move around again.  Louis understood completely.

He looked out at the area, flat rocky land as far as he could see, and all of it covered in black dust and ice.  They went out when the winds were at their lowest and Louis didn’t plan on going back in until they began picking up to their full speed.

Niall and he only played around for a few minutes before they began picking up samples of the planet’s surface for testing.  They didn’t venture too far from the ship, grabbing rocks that were nearer and looking for anything interesting.  They had a few hypotheses, that they had come up with on their journey there, and they needed to begin testing them since they only had about a year and a quarter to do so.  If their research proved conclusive, they could hopefully decide whether Neptune could ever be habitable.  Many of the closer planets, that had already been thoroughly tested, didn’t meet the standard.

When Liam’s voice was back in Louis’ ear, “The winds will be picking up soon.  Come back to base,” he returned.  Giving one last look out at the darkness ahead of him, at the deep grey-blue rock illuminated only by the light of the stars.  The sun too far away to do much for warming the planet’s surface.

He came back and there was a new energy in their movement as they began to study the rocks and planet’s dust, swiveling past each other to go from microscope to computer and back, chattering of all the new theories and thoughts they had.

Liam was excited to go out the following day, and Louis stayed in the control room while he and Niall did so.  He could see them out the window, their jumping around hardly inhibited by gravity, but by the bulk of their suits.  He heckled Liam when he slipped and fell, after first immediately making sure he was fine and that his suit hadn’t been torn.  Liam verbally flicked him off.

And the first few months were like that, Louis, Niall, and Liam switching off who would go outside and who would stay back to man the control room.  No accidents had yet to occur, which they were all thankful for.  Only a few slips and falls here and there, but it seemed the more they walked around the planet, the easier it was to hold their ground against the black ice.  They made sure to go out only when the winds weren’t acting up, a relatively easy feat once they had figured out the repetitive nature of it.

And they never stayed out for long if it started up randomly while they were collecting samples.

Of course the excitement they had experienced when they first stepped off the ship started dwindling again, just like when they had been on the ship.  Liam and he hadn’t gotten into any major fights, though oftentimes Louis found himself becoming easily irritated.  The others pinned it on the lack of sun.

Louis missed the sun so much.  He missed his family even more.

It calmed him to know they probably missed him just as much. 

They went about their days as normal, making sure to keep up with their exercise and research, eating dinners together and having a few hours of relaxation time to themselves.  Sometimes playing games with each other, reading books, stargazing or even napping.  Louis was pretty sure he’d read all the books they’d brought with them at least three times already.

He was also getting pretty good at messing about with his footie, improving his juggling count to somewhere in the sixties.  He thought it was pretty impressive, especially when he still managed to continue when Niall and Liam would throw game board pieces at him to mess him up.

Months were passing by at the blink of an eye.  Much quicker than when the three of them had been resigned to staying within the confines of the spaceship.  It was much easier to occupy their time when they had more direct experimentation to be doing instead of just the paperwork setting up for it.

Half of their time on Neptune was coming to a close, and the trip back would only be eight more Earth years, and really only six for him since time was different in space.  He was finding himself equally excited to return as he was to continue their research on the planet.  It had been his dream after all.  He had known what he’d been signing up for.

He soon had taken to being the only one who would venture outside, when they figured they should slow down their use of oxygen in the suits.  He would go farther and farther from the spacecraft, to mark out what he saw later, map it down.

Most all of it was the same.  Rocks.  And more rocks.  Louis knew it should have been exciting, but somedays things were just slow and cold.  So cold.

There was silence as he went out to the spot he’d visited the previous day, and the day before that.  The ship was behind him, with Liam in the control room and Niall probably catching up on his notes.  In front of him, the same white moons, dark sky, and frozen ground.

He took a steadying breath, wondering in what direction he should move next.  He could keep going forward, though he was sure he would run into the water if he did.  The water that took up more than half of the planet’s surface and that was probably more ice than anything.

He glanced to his right.  Most of the moons seemed to enjoy collecting around that area.  The axis of the planet probably nearest to that region.

He turned to his left.

A _thing_ was there.  With a face.  And a body.  Louis tripped backwards, yelling out, “Shit! Fuck! What the fuck?!”

Liam was in his ear a moment later, concerned and rushed.  “Louis, what is it?  What’s wrong?”

“Are my oxygen levels low?  I think I’m… uh, God.  Is there something wrong with my suit?!”  The creature, boy really, looked down at him.  He was stark naked.  Louis eyes fell to his lower regions, over his being, and the ashy blue color of his body.  His dick, if that’s what it was, was _massive_.  His hands were massive too, entire being much larger than Louis’.  Especially where he was on the ground from having fallen backwards.  Louis blinked back up at his face trying to steady his breathing and not pass out right there.

“No!  Your oxygen levels are steady, there doesn’t seem to be any hydrogen getting into your suit or any other problems.  What’s wrong, Louis?  Are you okay, did you find something?”

The thing opened its mouth, craters denting its cheeks, he looked like a man.  Maybe Louis was just imagining a naked man-creature thing because he hadn’t gotten laid in about nine years.  That must’ve been it.  The radio crackled in his ear, Liam worriedly waiting on the other end.  “Uh, yeah! …Umm, sorry.  I just found like a… rock.”  His voice was shaky, he hardly sounded convincing.

The figure crouched down to his level, scrunching up its expression and tilting its head at him.  He drew nearer, though Louis didn’t back away, unable to.  Flight or fight?  More like frozen and petrified.  He was going to die.  Why hadn’t he told Liam he’d found an alien or something?

He was probably just hallucinating that’s why… Right.  Extraterrestrials didn’t exist.  At least not full formed bodies.  Sure, little interstellar worms and bacteria, sure, that was real.  Not freaking boys, men, blue bodied and reaching out to touch his face.  The hand collided with the visor on Louis’ helmet, inches from his nose.  A large hand pressing up against the glass.

The thing pulled it back after a moment, before trying again to touch through the glass, pressing harder.  Louis’ breath hitched and he cringed away.  The thing moved its mouth, or what looked to be a mouth, it was so hard to see out there.  The thing looked like it was trying to speak, though Louis wasn’t sure what it could possibly have to say.  He closed his eyes, willing the hallucination to pass.  His breathing was ragged now, Liam having been in his ear for the past few minutes trying to break through his haze, telling him to come back immediately.  He hadn’t even heard his friend’s voice over the blood rushing in his ear.

“Yeah, I’ll be right there.”  He responded, voice much too light and airy.  Liam was going to barrage him with questions and body tests when he got back.  To make sure he really was alright.  Louis found himself looking forward to it.

When he opened his eyes again, the thing wasn’t there.  Maybe he really had imagined it.  He fucking hoped so.  He wasn’t in the right mindset to be running into an actual living _being_ on Neptune.

He evened his breathing before sitting up, the snowy landscape beneath him making it hard to do so.  When he made it back to the station, Liam was practically shoving Louis into a chair once he had him close enough.  Niall immediately began checking his vitals, hooking him up to the monitor, while Liam looked over his suit, just to be sure there weren’t any malfunctions, lecturing him the entire time.  Voice shrill and concerned.  Louis was too busy thinking about what he saw to really listen.  “What the fuck was that, Lou?!” Liam nearly ripped the suit, he was looking it over so aggressively.  He looked to Louis when he stated, “You scared the hell out of me.”

Louis ducked his head slightly at that.  He really hadn’t meant to.  He didn’t even have an excuse to use.  He tried anyways, voice quieting the more he tried to explain. “I don’t… I was just… I-I don’t even know what happened out there.”  He glanced up to meet his gaze, frowning, “I’m really sorry, Liam.”

Niall didn’t even laugh at Louis’ stuttering, the situation was serious enough.  “That doesn’t quite explain what happened, mate…” he added quietly when Liam continued glowering at him, brows pulled together in continued concern.

“It was just… I thought I was seeing things.  It was nothing.  I’m really sorry to have worried you.”  Niall squeezed his arm where he had hooked him up to their monitor.  Louis gave him a small smile back as Liam huffed and told him he didn’t want him to go out for a few days so that they could make sure he really was okay.

Louis readily agreed, not ready to run into what he had earlier.  Not that he thought it was real, but he was having a harder time not imagining that hand having been able to reach into his suit and touch his face.  His heart rate spiked thinking about it.  What the hand would’ve felt like.  If it was real.

//*\\\//*\\\//*\\\

Louis couldn’t get the thought of the thing out of his mind.  He had trouble sleeping, lying awake in bed wondering if he really had just imagined it.  Or if it was true that aliens could really exist.

He didn’t tell the other boys about it, not wanting to worry them about his existential crisis.  He wasn’t sure he wanted to go back out when Liam gave him the okay.  Wasn’t sure if the energy thrumming in his veins was from excitement of not being alone in the galaxy or fear of the unknown.  He found that he sort of wanted to, maybe, see the creature again.

If it was real.

The alien had been frightening, but it had also been stunning.  In an ethereal sense.  Its skin had glowed bright against the dark backdrop of the planet’s surface, its eyes smoky and piercing through the thick glass of Louis’ visor.

He made his way out towards the spot he had been in when it had found him.  There was a dry sweat on his skin, his palms clammy in their gloves.  He waited.

And he waited again the following day.  And the next.  And the rest of the week.

It didn’t show.  Of course, if it wasn’t actually real, then it wouldn’t…  Louis wondered if he really was going crazy.

He couldn’t keep wasting oxygen by going out to find nothing.  He knelt down to scoop up some more of the dirt, their thirtieth sample.  It would go towards their experiment testing the pH of the material and whether it would be plausible to grow anything in it.  Once they set up fake UV radiation on top of it to see.

Louis felt a tick in his temple.  It almost felt like they were getting nowhere with their work.  Nowhere being a relative term.  They were discovering that the planet was looking like another dud in sustaining life.  Well, at least human life.

Louis looked out one last time before turning around to head back towards the ship.  Louis would stay back in the ship the next day, he decided.  They had enough samples for a while.

Louis had Niall open the exit compartment for him, stepping through and giving him the okay through his headpiece that he could handle the rest.  He went to the computer in the left side of the container, tapping at the large buttons to close the entry door behind him.  The ground teetered slightly, with the vacuum surrounding him.  He pressed the button that would diffuse the toxic gases out of the area so he could remove his suit.

With the sound of the vents opening, Louis backed away from the monitor, turning to watch.  He always had a fascination with how the ship worked.  His heart shot up into his throat, eyes widening in horror.  It was there.  The _thing_.  It had been behind him the whole time.  Just standing in the middle of the compartment and looking around itself, the harsh light reflecting sharply against its sickened pallor.

The outer door was already shut.  The oxygen was streaming into the tank, the wall vents pulling the hydrogen out.  Louis watched in dread, what if it died right in front of him?!  Evaporate into nothing, disintegrate into dust.  It just stared back at him, almost looking unaffected, the blue tinge of its skin discoloring until it was almost a human shade, pale.  Hair brown, soft and curled against its neck and falling to the tops of its shoulders.  The alien was frowning slightly, before it was making its way towards Louis.  Who still had his mouth open in a mixture of fright and awe.

It looked exactly like a fucking human male, Louis needed to grab something before he fell over again.  He didn’t have a chance to when the alien was pressing both its palms against Louis’ visor.  The creature even had lines in his palm, like Louis.  He was struck in shock.

He wasn’t sure whether he should move and alert the creature to his being.  Or stay as still as he could in hopes it would go away.  Except he’d locked the outer door already. Fuck.  The creature was stuck in there with him.

It pushed his head up slightly, so it could lean its own face closer, squinting to try to see into the thick glass.  Louis noticed the creature had the most unbelievable eyes.

The memory of what the Earth had looked like from space suddenly hit Louis.  The green of the planets forests didn’t compare to the sight of the alien’s eyes, so close.  The darkened pupil thick like the deep entrenching space they were caught in; the sparkle of them, sharp like stars.

The alien was furrow browed, his expression looking like a pout.  At least, it reminded Louis of when the twins didn’t get what they wanted right away.  He felt the race of his heart, slow and steady itself.  He reached up his hand, suit heavy, for his own protection.  The creature didn’t shift back when it saw Louis’ movement.  It did stare down at it though, before taking one neat step back.

Louis kept his hand steady, no matter how much it begged to shake, extended towards the creature.  It stared down at it for what had to have been minutes.  Before reaching out to pull on it.  Louis almost laughed at the action, a bright hysterical noise, the alien staring in confusion and eyes widened in distaste when nothing happened from its yanking.

Louis let it continue struggling, grinning like mad as the creature continued frowning, tilting its head like Louis’ mom used to do when she was confused by some new tech Lottie was showing her.  He felt slightly more at ease, when he moved his other hand up to grab both of the creature’s.

The alien’s brows lifted as Louis had been so still before, feeling over the suit with its massive paws.

Louis didn’t know what was going through his head when he slowly pulled back, reaching up to begin unclasping his helmet from the rest of the suit.  The alien, who looked so much like a man, just watched him.

Louis only had a second to regret his decision before he was lifting the helmet off his head to shake the sweaty hair from his face, and to meet the alien eye to eye.  The creature paused, before grinning, showing off perfect white teeth and a smile that tugged at Louis’ own mouth, until he was smiling tentatively in turn.  A sweet dimple sat in the aliens left cheek and it deepened further when Louis opened his mouth to begin, a hesitant, “Hello…” falling from his tongue.

The alien stared at his eyes.  And then his mouth.  Doe-eyed and so, so much prettier without the visor in the way.  Louis knew his mouth was dry, his throat feeling a bit scratchy near the top.  “I… umm, don’t know if you understand what I’m saying.”

He froze up when the alien reached out, pressing his hands to Louis’ throat.  Fingertips on both sides of his Adams apple.  He swallowed, the movement followed by the creature’s eyes.  He didn’t move for the longest time, but the alien didn’t move either, didn’t start choking him or sucking the life from him, or any other horror Louis found himself imaging within those moments.

Maybe that was just something this kind of alien did.  Touched other people’s throats when they first met them… Yeah.  Louis knew nothing about their culture.  Maybe that was normal.

He cleared his throat, not feeling any extra pressure against his neck.  He tried with another tentative smile, this one a bit more hysterical than the last.  “Uh, do you… Umm, speak…?  You’re not going to kill me are you?!”  The last part came out a bit high-pitched and squeaky.  Louis thought it was pretty manly given he quite possibly was going to be murdered by an extraterrestrial in the next few minutes.

The creature opened its mouth, a deep scratchy voice filling the silence in the capsule as it emulated the vibrations of his vocal chords.  “N-o.”  It pressed its mouth together before repeating the word, the heaviness of it settling deep in Louis’ stomach.

It smiled again and Louis was amazed how it had the effect of reducing his nerves, even the tiniest bit.  When it removed its hands, Louis’ nerves were even further reduced.  The thing beamed at him, pointing at itself, “Hairy.”

Louis squinted slightly, letting himself glance towards where the alien was pointing.  Its chest was relatively hairless, if oddly defined for something living without a gym membership.  On Neptune.  Louis pointed at his own self, thumb directly above his sternum, “Umm, clothes-wearing…”

He felt sort of like an idiot.  But this alien didn’t seem like an extra intelligent being like all of the movies made them out to be.  Maybe he’d be lucky and it wouldn’t understand him.

The thing let out a laugh, bright and soft, sinking into Louis’ bloodstream, “No.  Name.”  He pointed towards himself again, mumbling, “’m Harry.”

“You speak English?”

The alien, or Harry, lifted his hand to point at Louis’ throat.  A realization washed over him.  That was what he’d been doing… Somehow he had acquired English just by touching Louis’ neck. Louis felt oddly transparent, a pinch tickling up his spine.

“I’m Louis…” He mumbled in return.  Watching the alien form the name with his own lips.  He sort of wanted him to say it aloud so he could hear him instead of just seeing the possibility formed on his mouth.  He blurted, “Are you an alien?”

Harry stopped mouthing his name to stare back at him.  “You’re an alien.”

Louis smiled ruefully at the reply.  Feeling a bit like an idiot for asking such an obvious question.  “I guess I am…”  The alien smiled brighter, looking much less like a scary unknown being and more like a precious baby-faced twenty or something.  He wondered if that was his age.  “Harry, was it?”

It nodded, curls shifting slightly with the movement.  Louis had the urge to reach out and touch them.  He refrained though, knowing he still had no idea if the alien was potentially toxic to him.  The momentary concern that it had touched his skin washed over him.

“Harry,” he repeated, liking the way the name rolled from his tongue, sweet and so new, considering he’d only been saying Liam and Niall’s for the past nine years.  “How old are you?”

The alien looked confused at that, “Old?”

Louis nodded, a bit slower, wondering if Harry couldn’t understand him, even though he could speak his language.  “Every time your planet rotates around its axis, umm, once… is a year.” He indicates the number with his finger, watching Harry absorb what he was saying.  “I’m from the planet Earth.  So right now, I would be 31.”

Harry smiled brighter at that, looking up to, Louis assumed, calculate his age.  The angle of his head showed off the curve of his neck, the Adam’s apple there.  Just like Louis’.  Even the paleness of his skin was similar.  He wondered how the oxygen had turned Harry’s pigmentation, curious if it would do the same with other gases.

Harry broke Louis from his reverie, when he stated, “I’m 10,000!”

Louis replied almost instantaneously, in disbelief.  “There is no way.  I don’t believe you.”

The alien actually looked offended, slightly put-out when he said, “I am.”

Louis didn’t know why he felt so at ease with the creature.  Even as it frowned at him.  Maybe it was because Harry reminded him just a little bit of his family.  A little in the way Fizzy used to always argue her point and how the older twins were the worst at hiding their curiosity. He only wanted to tease him more.

He didn’t, though.  Merely took another breath to ease his nerves and scattered thoughts.  Wondering which thread to pick up on.  “Why did you, uh… When you saw me before… Why did you follow me onto my ship?”

Harry glanced around the compartment once again before looking back to Louis.  “Wanted to know what you were.”

Louis’ brow arched.  “You weren’t scared?”

Harry shook his head.  Louis almost scoffed.  Almost.  He’d been ready to pee his pants when Harry had showed himself for the first time, and Harry was completely unafraid of what Louis could possibly do to him.  So unafraid that he just up and walked onto their freaking spaceship.  Louis was a bit dumbfounded.

It was hard to come up with questions, though Louis felt like he was drowning in curiosity, as he watched Harry watch him back.  He did manage a few simple things, like, “Are you alone?”, “Aren’t you cold outside?”, “If you’ve lived for 10,000 years than what is your lifespan, exactly?”

He received an unsure response for the last one, a yes for the first and a resounding no for the second.  Harry was the one who ended up asking him more.

And they stood there and talked for what had felt like days, but Louis figured had to have been just a few hours.  Liam and Niall were bound to be wondering what the holdup was.

He shifted his helmet, where it was still in his hands, watching the fluorescent lights shine off of Harry’s hair and reflect off his skin.

Louis knew he would have to let Harry leave, but before doing so he licked over his dry lips, asking genuinely, “So are you going to follow me back to the ship again tomorrow or…?”

Harry smiled in reply, dimples going all soft and sweet.  “Going to wait until right before you close the doors again so you have no choice but to keep me.”

Louis felt his skin warming and a small laugh bubbling up from his chest, as he bit down on his lower lip to stop his smile from growing.  He cleared his throat, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.  I could probably kick you out right now if I wanted.”  The thing was, Louis knew he wouldn’t.  He could wait at least ten more minutes before he let Harry leave.  Maybe even twenty.

//*\\\//*\\\//*\\\

The next day Louis still made sure to put his suit on.  He wouldn’t go out without it.  Just in case.  It would be a protective layering, even if he decided to skip the helmet.

Of course he had to put on his helmet to let Harry in.  He didn’t have to wait long though, Harry stepping in almost immediately when he opened the outer door.  He was smiling and approaching Louis to watch what he was doing.  Louis was smiling back even though Harry wouldn’t be able to see him behind his visor.

They sat together, that day and the next, and the following week, talking.  Louis told Harry about Earth and Harry told Louis about Neptune.

“You live in the ground?  Is it like a cavern?”

Harry screwed his mouth up in thought before nodding.

“By yourself?”  He nodded again and Louis would have asked him to explain if his brain wasn’t already jumping onto the next question.  He had so many.  So completely curious with Harry’s life.  He learned that Harry ate the minerals from the ground, when he had to eat, and that he didn’t have to drink anything to stay alive.  He informed Harry of all of his favorite foods and drinks back from Earth.

He learned that during the day Harry would sit around and look up at the stars, explore, think.  Sometimes he would sleep for days on end.  Louis told him about the different countries and their separate school systems and politics.  That had been an interesting conversation.

Harry was a very good listener, letting Louis prattle on for hours and hours.  Louis was just as attentive even with Harry’s long-winded stories.  Those were Louis’ favorites to listen to.

And there was still so much to learn.  He loved to hear Harry talk and see him smile.

He started staying up later, to get all of his work done during the evenings, since his days were being taken up by a curly haired alien.  Niall and Liam didn’t seem too concerned with what he did with his day, probably assuming he was out, exploring the area.  They all had gotten a bit restless again.  Being stuck in a ship like they’d been could do that to you.  Louis made sure to tell Harry to not visit the days he knew Niall and Liam wanted to go out on the planet.

It had been three weeks of their intermittent meetings.  And Louis found himself excited every morning to grab his gear and meet up with Harry.

He hadn’t talked to anyone that wasn’t Liam or Niall for about nine years.  He was almost selfishly glad he could have Harry all to himself.  At least, for then.  He would tell the others eventually… He would have to.

But for right that moment, Harry was all his.

“Can I touch your hair?”  Louis asked one day, hand tentatively outstretched towards the chocolate curls.  He wondered if they would feel brittle because they were exposed to the noxious gases outside.  They weren’t.  Harry scooted closer to him after Louis started parsing through the strands, thumbing over the silky curls.

“Can I touch yours?” Harry asked, quietly, scooting even closer until their knees bumped.  Louis nodded, only stalling in surprise when Harry’s hand immediately went to the scruff on his jaw instead of the hair at the top of his head.

Harry rubbed his palm and fingers all over Louis’ chin making him laugh at the action.  “What are you doing?”  He met his eyes, pushing a strand of hair behind Harry’s cute little ears.

“’s scratchy.”  Harry commented, pulling a face.

Louis shook his head, rubbing his face against Harry’s palm again where it had stopped at his cheek.  “It’s stubble.  I see you don’t have any.”

Harry scrunched his nose and upper lip up, in verification of that fact.  Louis laughed again, having the sudden urge to lean forward and kiss his nose.  He absolutely did not.  And dropped his hand from Harry’s hair once the thought struck.  That was extremely weird.

Harry continued petting over his face and eventually the top of his head, and Louis just watched him.  Setting his chin against his knees, where he had them pulled to his chest, eyes soft and so fond.

As the days wore on, Louis began removing more of his suit.  Next were his gloves.  Harry had a fascination with his hands.  Why he did, Louis had no idea.  It wasn’t like they were much different from Harry’s own.  Just smaller, more petite.

Louis was hesitant at first when Harry had grabbed his hand, but he quickly relaxed when Harry merely touched over every inch of it, fingertips tracing the lines and writing calluses there.  Louis felt his heart flutter when Harry matched up their palms and let their fingers entwine.  There was something so intimate about the close contact that Louis hadn’t had for so long.  He blushed slightly, letting Harry keep their hands together for the rest of his visit.

And he was the first to initiate the physical contact the next time Harry came by.  He slipped their hands together, where they sat beside one another against the wall, talking more about Earth and what Louis missed the most.  The weather.  Thunderstorms and snow, and the sun.  He described the sun to him, watching the sparkle in Harry’s eyes light up with every detail.  Watch the way he bit over his pink lower lip in awe.  It made Louis miss it all just a little less.

//*\\\//*\\\//*\\\

Louis had more than a few nights to consider whether it was a bad idea to let Harry into their spacecraft. 

He still hadn’t told Liam and Niall, which he probably should have.  And they probably would be uncomfortable with the fact he’d be letting an alien into their home…  But Harry was new and he was exciting.  And Louis wanted to stop speaking to him in the exit compartment and show Harry his room instead.  It’d be a lot more comfortable there anyways.

Louis would just have to be careful.  Like he’d been.  Make sure that Niall and Liam wouldn’t catch on to his little alien friend joining them in their spacecraft.

That seemed easier said than done, but Louis actually didn’t run into any problems bringing Harry in on their first try.  He told Harry to be quiet and checked all of the rooms to find where Liam and Niall were-- Liam in the activities room and Niall in the storage area.

Louis, already stripped of his suit, quickly pulled Harry into the nearest room with a door, their bedroom.  He shut it quietly behind them, turning around to find Harry already looking around the area.  There were three beds and drawers tucked up beneath them for their clothes, all connected to the ground.  The room was rectangular with mirrors on one of the smaller walls, a desk with files pushed up next to the foot of Louis’ bed.  Niall’s and Liam’s were foot to foot on the other side of the long wall, across from the small window there.

Louis pointed out all of these things to Harry, indicating his bed and his drawers and the mirror.  Harry really seemed to like the mirror, staring at himself in wonder and trying to get his reflection to move the same way he did.  Louis informed him it would always do that.

Louis sat down on his bed, watching Harry watch himself.  It was quite amusing, how Harry would get closer to the mirror the more he looked, reaching out to touch his reflection and make weird faces at himself.  Louis was endeared, though he tried to hide the expression when Harry glanced over at him.

Harry was moving to sit beside him a moment later, touching over everything that he could.  He also seemed to like how soft the blankets were, even though Louis informed him they were hardly as soft as some of the blankets he’d used on Earth.

They sat together, Louis watching Harry explore the area with his eyes and ask questions.  Louis answered each and everyone one of them, grinning, and trying not to notice the fact that he had a naked human-looking alien in his bed.  He made sure to keep his eyes averted.  Sexualizing an entirely different alien race was a bit problematic.  And he knew he shouldn’t have been doing it.

Harry didn’t seem to mind being buck-naked though.  If he really was 10,000 years old, he’d probably spent every single day of those 10,000 years naked.

Louis was almost tempted to give him some of Liam’s pants when there was a knock on the door and Louis was slamming his hand over Harry’s mouth to stop him from commenting on the fact he’d just ripped part of a page of Louis’ favorite book.

“Oh, shit.”  He mumbled, taking the book from Harry’s hands and giving him wide-eyes.  “Uh, one second!” He called towards the door, immediately grabbing Harry by the arm and glancing around the area for anywhere to put him. 

Perhaps he shouldn’t have brought him into the spacecraft…

He put Harry down in the corner behind Niall’s bed, against the same wall as the door, opening his own drawer to empty the contents over the alien’s head.  “Stay here, and stay quiet.”  Louis whispered at him, even as Harry pushed aside the clothes to look up at him, letting out a noise that sounded quite like a giggle.  Louis ran over to the door a moment later, after the wonder at what he’d just heard had passed, opening it to find Niall grinning at him from the other side.

“Having some alone time, eh, Tommo?”

Louis made a face at him, leaning up against the door frame to block as much of Niall’s view as possible, without being obvious about it.  “Please, Niall, we all know what you get up to when we’re trying to sleep.”

Niall laughed, scratching at the side of his nose.  “At least I make sure you’re asleep.”  Louis shook his head, amused despite himself.  “Liam and I were about to make a recording.”

Louis nodded, surreptitiously glancing towards the corner, “Yeah, I’ll, uh, be right there.”

Niall gave him a final grin, with a, “Cool, make sure to clean up your sheets.  Nasty.” before he was turning and leaving Louis alone with a hardly hidden alien.

Louis made sure to close the door tightly, locking it again, before moving back over towards Harry, who was messing with the clothes, feeling over all of them and pulling them to his nose to sniff.  “Alright, you can move now.”  Harry looked up at him, large green eyes sparkling in the light.  Louis had another thought of how Harry was so unbelievably precious.

He reached out to take his hand, pulling him to his too large feet.  “I have to, umm, do work stuff.”  Louis glanced away, dropping their hands, “You’re probably going to have to leave.”  He really didn’t want him to.  He’d hardly had enough time to let Harry explore his room.

Harry nodded, grabbing Louis’ hand again when he took him towards the exit to sneak him out.  Louis tried not to let his heartbeat pick up at the action.  Harry probably held hands with everyone.  It probably wasn’t abnormal in his alien culture.  Or even mean anything.  Honestly, Louis was being ridiculous.  And all because he had been found by an intriguingly funny and pretty extraterrestrial.  He never imagined that thought would have ever crossed his mind, ever.

“Come over tomorrow?”  He asked quietly, leaning closer to Harry to do so.  He didn’t really need to, but it happened before he could stop himself.  Harry nodded, seriously, before stepping into the exit container.  Louis closed the inner door, turning on the camera to watch as he opened the outer exit and Harry slipped out.

He quickly made his way to the control room, Liam and Niall clicking on the right controls and laughing about something or other.  This would be their fifth recording, documenting their work on Neptune.

Louis pulled out his research files, trying to keep his focus on their work and not on thoughts of Harry and seeing him again.  Though his tapping foot and skipping heart didn’t seem to get the memo.

//*\\\//*\\\//*\\\

One thing Louis realized by having Harry there, was how much he enjoyed his company.  And how much Harry hated personal space.  It was clearly a concept he had never learned.

A fact that came to a head when they were both sitting on Louis’ bed and talking like they did every day.  Though Harry had kept giving his shirt sneaky glances while he’d been explaining his, Liam, and Niall’s most recent game of scrabble.  He didn’t know what could be so distracting about it.  But it wasn’t long before he found out why Harry had been scrutinizing him with such cutely furrowed brows.  He cut Louis off, staring more openly.  “What’re you hiding under there?”

The next moment Harry was yanking his shirt off, the efficiency of which had Louis gaping.  He had his hands up before he was falling back against the blankets, calling out a “Woah!” as Harry felt all over his chest; long, cold fingers tracing over every rib and hair.

Harry’s eyes probed his chest as he leaned down on top of him, hands finding a place on his biceps, shirt effectively on the ground.  He was a flurry of curiosity, poking into his bellybutton and brushing over the little hairs below his tummy, finally stalling to lean his head down against Louis’ chest instead, on top of where his heart was fluttering at an almost irreparable speed.

Louis swallowed, elbows planted heavily in the blankets, Harry almost entirely on top of him.  When he finally found the will to speak, face stained pink high on his cheeks, his voice was stilted and awkward, “Harry… You can’t just.  Get all over me, when you want to.”

Louis watched to see if Harry heard him, curls pressed up against his chest, the boy breathing out steadily against his skin, goosebumps rising gradually over his abdomen and arms. 

He sucked in a breath when Harry rubbed his cheek against his pec, murmuring lowly, “But you’re so warm and soft.”  He leaned more of his weight down against Louis.

Louis reached up to brush some of Harry’s curls to the side.  But he didn’t stop there, stroking over his scalp and letting the strands tangle around his fingers.  Harry purred, eyes shut in contentedness.  Louis bit over his lip, endeared by the noise.

It was a few minutes of the soft noise and warm breath puffing against his chest before Harry pulled back slightly.  Eyes moving down from Louis’ to where his pants were.  He pointed, “Are you hiding anything under there?”

Louis laughed, grabbing Harry’s hands before he could start ripping his pants off too.  “Uh… yeah.  I, umm, have like what you have.”  Harry looked down at himself, as if to make sure they were talking about the same thing.  “Except less big…”

Harry scrunched his nose up.  “Don’t worry.  If yours is the same it’ll grow.  Mine gets slightly bigger every 1,000 years.”

“Jesus...”

Harry looked back down at his pants, hands twitching, “Can I see it?”

Louis’ eyes almost bugged out, “Jesus.”  He cleared his throat, stroking his thumb over the back of Harry’s hands, “Umm, no… On Earth, that is only reserved for umm, when you want to be closer to someone.”  His dick didn’t seem to understand either, why he was saying no.

Harry frowned up at him, their faces a lot closer than they’d been.  Harry definitely didn’t know what personal space was.  “I want to be closer to you.”  He sat up a bit straighter, moving his lower half closer.  “You can see mine.”

Louis tried to not look down at it.  He really did.  It was inappropriate on so many levels.  “No, Harry.  Actually, could you, like, put some pants on?  I think Liam may have some in your size…”

He thought he’d be able to handle letting Harry be naked in their room.  He’d lasted for a while, if he was honest.  But if Harry was planning on getting on top of him like he’d just done, Louis would need Harry to wear something.  Because he could not be getting turned on by an alien.

Harry tilted his head, but moved back when Louis got up to run and grab a pair of Liam’s sweats.  Harry giggled when he saw them, staring down at Louis’ legs before moving to stick his own into the first hole, and then the next, shimmying them up past his hips.  Louis grinned when he realized they were backwards, his dick giving a twitch.  He tugged on the little tie at the front of the sweatpants.  “This part goes in the front, love.”

Harry decided he didn’t want to fix them and instead climbed back on top of Louis.  “Feels weird…” He mumbled a moment later, staring down at Louis from where he was hovering over him.

Louis shook his head at the positioning they were in.  He was glad Harry hadn’t managed to take his pants off, he was already hard enough and he didn’t need Harry asking why that was.  “Might be because they’re backwards… Or because you’ve never worn pants before.”  He smiled up at him, before bopping him on the nose with his finger.

Harry grinned extra wide before dropping down until their chests were flat against one another’s and he could push his nose into Louis’ neck, breathing him in.  Louis shivered at the sensation, tentatively reaching up to pet over his back, drag his fingertips down his spine.  His skin was so smooth.

Louis felt a flip in his stomach when Harry spoke up, though his question seemed to be coming out of nowhere.  “How am I so different from you?”

Louis reached up to brush a hand through Harry’s hair, staring up at the ceiling.  “I don’t know…”  He knew his answer wouldn’t be satisfying, but it seemed Harry hadn’t expected to be satisfied when he sighed and curled his hands closer to Louis’ sides.

Louis knew the obvious differences, that Harry’s skin changed color every time he entered and left the space craft, that he didn’t have to eat or drink anything for extended periods of time, that he was taller and broader than Louis, and made Louis’ insides squirm sometimes.  Louis knew all of those differences, but he also knew that Harry hadn’t been asking about them.

He stroked through Harry’s curls again, thinking that maybe, one day he’d have an answer for him.

//*\\\//*\\\//*\\\

He was sneaking Harry in again, moving them into the activities room since he knew Liam was in their bedroom when the worst thing happened.

He had been holding Harry’s hands in both of his, talking mutedly to him and walking backwards so he could see Harry’s pretty smile grow at what he was saying.  Which is why he didn’t see him before it was too late.

Harry’s eyes widened when Louis dropped his palms.

Louis immediately stiffened when he heard from behind him, “Louis… Who is that?”  He turned at Niall’s unnervingly calm voice. His eyebrows were lifted and the whites of his eyes were especially evident.  He was staring at Harry, blinking, like he wasn’t sure if he was imagining him.

“Umm… this is Harry.”  Louis croaked out, watching Niall to make sure he didn’t have an aneurysm.  He seemed much too calm.  Louis should have told Liam and Niall about Harry before.  Shit, he really should have told them.  He cleared his throat, “Uh, he’s an alien.”

“An alien?”  Niall exhaled, before turning his scrutiny on Louis and laughing.  A brief, unhappy thing.  “A fucking alien?  Louis, don’t play with me.”  He laughed again, throwing his head back and moving to lean up against the wall, bracing a hand against it.  He stopped short to stare at Harry again, eyes squinted.

Louis fidgeted, looking towards Harry who was making sure to just stand there, quietly, looking back at him questioningly.  He turned back to Niall, rubbing at the side of his neck.  “Actually, I’m not.  I, uh,” this was where he was digging his grave, “met him a few weeks ago…”  Almost two months, he doesn’t say.  Niall still doesn’t look at him, though he stiffens a bit at the information.

“And you just thought you would… what?  Not tell us?  Does Liam know?”  He sounded relatively normal, if a bit more serious than he usually was.  At least he didn’t sound too hysterical.

Louis felt extremely guilty, a squeamish turning in his stomach and a nasty taste in the back of his mouth.  “Uh, no… he doesn’t.”

There was an extremely long moment of silence.  Minutes passed and none of them said anything.  Harry looking to Louis, Louis watching Niall, and Niall staring at Harry.  Wow, he really hoped Liam wouldn’t walk in right then.

Niall pushed off from the wall after a moment, muscles relaxing slightly.  “Okay… an alien. Alright.”  He turned to Louis, with a hard look, “You’re telling me everything.  _Right now_.”

Louis nodded, and he did.  He told Niall how Harry had found him, how Harry was safe, and how they were friends.  Everything they had talked about, minus a few more personal details. Niall still looked at Harry with narrowed eyes every few sentences, but he didn’t stiffen when Harry moved closer to Louis, to wrap his thumb and pointer finger around his wrist.

Louis smiled back at him and Niall heaved an exhale, finding the nearest surface to fall on top of.  He covered his face, thumbing at his temples.  “This is so fucking nuts.”

And that was a lot better than what Louis was expecting.  Really.  He gave Harry a small smile, breaking his hold on his wrist to grab his hand instead.  Niall was handling the situation a lot better than Louis deserved.

Telling Liam was not as easy.

Once Niall had gotten himself put together, he forced Louis and Harry to follow him to the main control room, where Liam had gone after he’d left their bedroom.  He practically jumped to the farthest corner of the compartment, exhaling as many expletives as he probably knew.  Louis felt like a real piece of shit. He really should have told them earlier.

He accepted Liam’s yelling and outrage.  At least Niall wasn’t yelling at him.  He was instead scrutinizing Harry again from where he was sitting across the table from him, Louis by Harry’s side.  He was glad Harry could squeeze his hand in silent support when Liam’s words were particularly harsh.  Not that Louis didn’t deserve it.  They were a team and he had been unbelievably selfish in not telling them.  And for inviting Harry into their home without their permission.

When Liam had finally calmed, at least slightly, Niall spoke up.  “So… Harry, was it?”

Harry looked to Louis first, before nodding his head, “Umm, yes.”  Liam and Niall stared at Harry for a few long minutes after he’d spoken.  It was the first time they’d heard him and it was Louis’ turn to squeeze Harry’s hand back.

It was a moment before Niall was pulling out a fresh notepad and a pen, addressing him, “Can I take notes?”

“Niall—” Louis was cut off by the look Niall shot him.

There was a moment of silence before Niall was continuing.  “I’m serious.  We know nothing about Harry.  We need to be documenting this stuff.”

“Documenting it?  _He_ shouldn’t even be on the Goddamn ship!”  Liam interrupted, aggressively pointing in Harry’s direction.  Not looking at him, as if that would verify his presence was in fact there.  “Or should I say, ‘it’.”

“Don’t be an ass, Liam.”  Louis mumbled, knowing Liam was just scared.  That he didn’t know Harry like Louis did.  That he needed to keep the peace.  It would be him who was not be allowed to see Harry anymore if the other two decided against it.

Liam didn’t respond to Louis, just continued pacing.  Niall clicked the end of the pen, putting ink to paper, “So… you’re an alien…”  He eyed Harry again when Harry nodded.  Niall pursed his lips in return.  “You look exactly like a human.”

“We should x-ray him.”  Liam murmured.  Still pacing.

Niall nodded, jumping up to grab the x-ray wand, and hook it up to the monitor. “Genius idea, Payno.”

Louis’ shoulders tensed as he looked back to Harry.  Before turning his attention back to Niall, “Wait!  Are you sure that’s a good idea?  What if the electromagnetic radiation hurts him?”

Niall slowed his movements slightly and fortunately for Louis’ sake Liam didn’t respond.  He’d probably say something that would get on his nerves.

“It’s alright,” Harry replied after a moment.  Niall gave him a smile for it.  And Louis continued frowning.  Harry knew Liam and Niall were still wary of him.  Louis knew it was justified for them to be so, but he couldn’t stand it.  Harry was fine, he wouldn’t hurt any of them and he wasn’t a monster.  He was just different…

“Alright, Harry.  Please stand here.”  Niall motioned where he wanted Harry to go.

Liam eyed Harry critically for a moment before asking, “Are those my clothes?”

“Uh…”  Louis exhaled awkwardly.  He couldn’t lie at that point.  He braced himself for more yelling.  “Umm, yeah… he wouldn’t very well fit anything I owned.”  He looked up to see Liam frowning quite intensely at him.  “I’m sorry for not asking…”

“And for letting an alien get its toxic germs all over the stuff _I’ll_ be wearing?”  His tone seemed to go up near the end.  Louis ducked his head in apology.

He bit over his tongue, before, “Trust me, Liam, Harry’s skin isn’t toxic.  If it was, I’d already be having some type of reaction.  And I’m not.”

“What exactly have you two been doing?”  Liam blurted, before Louis could think about how un-casual his response had sounded.

He sat up straighter, knee bouncing in time to his sudden nerves.  “What?!  Nothing!  God, just talking.  And shaking hands and stuff.”

Niall snorted to himself, mumbling, “Shaking hands?”

“Yes. _Niall_.”  Harry was looking at him.  No longer distracted by Niall waving the x-ray wand in front of and behind his body.

Louis didn’t make eye contact with him.

“Alright, Harry.  You’re good.”  Niall said a moment later, putting down the x-ray wand, and pulling up the monitor and its results as it processed.  Liam, Louis, and Niall all leaned closer to the screen, scrutinizing it.  It was a mess to sort through.  None of them were doctors.  Though they all had to take anatomy classes when they were in school.

“Are you okay?”  Louis asked Harry, drawing his gaze away from the screen and Liam and Niall’s mutterings.  Harry nodded before turning back to watch Liam and Niall look at his insides.

“Looks like he has all the same parts as we do, just in like… different places.”  Niall, their resident ‘physician’ muttered.

“And what’s that?”  Louis asked, looking closer at the screen and pointing out a circular something near Harry’s lower stomach.

They stared at it for a few minutes longer, heads tilted varying degrees to the side.  Liam broke the silence.  “Not going to lie, but it looks like a womb.”

Louis didn’t really know what to say that.  All three sets of eyes landed on Harry again.  Scrutinizing.

“Interesting…”  Niall muttered, returning back to his notepad to write down their observations.

//*\\\//*\\\//*\\\

It was later, when Harry had gone back for the night that Liam really let him have it.  As if he hadn’t earlier.  At least Niall seemed rather neutral on the subject.  If anything, Louis could guess he would be on his side if it really came down to it.

Louis knew if Liam spent more time with Harry he would like him.  And that he’d realize he wasn’t scary or a threat to them at all.

When Liam had finished yelling at him about how he had so recklessly just let Harry into their ship without even telling them and allowing him to wear Liam’s clothes and honestly every single thing he could possibly think about, he finally sat down.  Clearly, he was stressed because he even went on a longwinded rant about Louis forgetting to clean up the lab two weeks prior and upsetting Liam’s work habits.

Niall wrangled them into a calmer state of conversation, finally deciding to put his opinion into the mix.  “We should let Harry come back.”  Louis nodded in wholehearted agreement.  Even though he still felt a bit guilty for not telling his friends earlier.  They were honestly his best friends; he didn’t know why he hadn’t trusted them with knowing that Harry existed.  He sighed, looking back to Niall when he continued.  “It’d be good for mankind and for science if we could study him.”

“Wait.  What?  What the fuck do you mean by that?!”  Louis prickled. They weren’t going to hurt him.  Study him like scientists in those awful movies did.  He wouldn’t let them.

Niall heaved a sigh, before, “Calm down.  Not like what you’re imagining.  We’re not going to do that shit they do to aliens in those stupid horror movies.”  Wow, Niall really knew him well.  It was probably due to their constant daily exposure for the past nine years.  Louis relaxed slightly. “I’m just thinking, like test his capabilities and kind of learn to understand his species a bit more… or something.”

Louis bit back his immediate response.  Actually mulling over Niall’s suggestion.  He was hesitant when he asked, “Like what?”

“Like… a physical test, see his physical limitations in comparison to the human standard.  Maybe a psychological or mental test.  An emotional test, if he has emotions or anything.  Stuff like that.”  Niall scrawled down the few ideas in the top corner of his notepad, before looking between the two of them.  Liam was being awfully quiet.  “I think it’d be the only way we could all agree.  For science, you know.  And it’d be better to understand Harry a bit better, I think.”

Louis heaved a breath, shaking his head even as he said, “Okay.”

“Liam?”  Niall asked, after a few moments of waiting.

Louis glanced over to see Liam still with that puckered brow and looking like he’d just smelled something disgusting.  “Fine.  But if he does anything weird or out of line, he’s out of here.”

Niall grinned, “Then we’re all agreed?”  Liam and Louis both gave him nods.  He seemed satisfied.  “Alright, let’s start planning out our research.”

//*\\\//*\\\//*\\\

It started with physical tests, that Liam was put in charge of.  The next day, he brought Harry into the training room and tested his muscle mass and BMI.  Measured how long he could run on their machines.

Liam didn’t want to be alone with Harry and it really wasn’t a problem for Louis, who quite enjoyed watching Harry work out.  Interestingly, he even broke out in a sweat which Liam made sure to scrawl in his notes.

Since none of them had the resources to give him an actual IQ test, they skipped overall intelligence and instead tested him on his counting capabilities and ability to comprehend stories and verbally solve problems.  He did pretty well considering he had never had formal education and couldn’t read.  Louis was proud of him.  Harry was so smart and Louis enjoyed the bright smile on his face every time he got an answer right.

Niall was in charge of administering a motor functioning test, slightly different from the physical, testing Harry’s ability to hold small objects and larger ones, draw and trace, how flexible he was and the like.  Louis didn’t mind watching him perform these tasks either.  In fact, ever since Harry had started doing their tests, all three of them were caught up in his results, more than one of them usually being present when Harry performed.  They were scientists after all and Harry was a very interesting subject to be studying.

One thing Louis did not approve of was putting Harry under different stressors to test the boundaries of his reflexes and feeling.  Louis put up with it though when Harry soothed him with a sweet smile and informed him, numerous times, that it was okay.

Liam who had been the most wary of Harry at the beginning, slowly seemed to be coming to terms with him being there.  It didn’t take long.  About a month.  And after Harry fell asleep in Louis’ bed one night, with Louis curled up right behind him, Harry no longer left every night.  Slowly joining them for all of their activities and sleeping in Louis’ bed with him.  Being the best thing to happen to Louis’ day.

He only left once every week to eat, and even then he was never gone for more than a few hours.

Which was good because Louis didn’t like missing him.

The emotional aspect of their research, Liam and Niall gave to Louis.  Which was wonderful because that meant they could be sprawled out on his bed and still do everything they needed to do.  Harry was laid out, very much like a psychiatrist’s patient on a chaise lounge, where Louis had his back to the wall and his legs propped up on top of Harry’s.

For the test, Louis asked Harry a number of questions, that he, Niall, and Liam had come up with, having Harry list a number between zero to ten regarding how upset, angry, sad, or happy it made him.  Clearly, it wasn’t an established way to check for emotional intelligence, but it would get the job done.  They were working on limited resources.

And of course, since Louis was Louis, and Harry was always so easily distracting, he made sure to throw in a few of his own questions to hear how Harry would respond.

He made sure to look like he was very seriously writing his notes even as Harry knowingly smiled up at him.  “So happiness scale, how happy does… Liam make you?”

“Hmm, seven.”  Harry replied, shifting one of his legs up to nudge his foot against Louis’ shin.

Louis smiled back at him, before clearing his throat and speaking ‘seriously’ once again.  “And Niall?  Remember, you can only pick from zero, being extremely not happy, to ten, being extremely happy.”

Harry scrunched is mouth up to think about it, glancing towards the ceiling.  “Niall is an eight…  Don’t tell Liam.”  He grinned, setting his other leg up to push his feet beneath Louis’ leg and bounce his knees a little.  Louis reached out to still them, thumbing over the seam of the one closest to him as he glanced back down at his clipboard.  They had already finished the happiness portion of his test, but he continued anyways.

“And what about me?  How happy do I make you?”  He tried to sound nonchalant when he asked, but he knew from the very beginning he was going to fail.  Was there ever a nonchalant way to ask someone if you make them happy?  Louis kept his eyes down so maybe Harry wouldn’t see the slight blush creeping up on his cheeks.

“You make me more than a ten.”  Louis glanced over to see Harry biting on his lower lip, his eyes practically sparkling.

“I make you more than extremely happy?”  He asked, a bit quieter.  Even as he cleared his throat to get the weirdness out of his voice, laughing softly.  He smiled a bit bigger when Harry nodded his head.  “You make me more than a ten too.”

And maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to work on their bed because the next thing Louis knew, he was putting his notebook down and scooting over to lie beside Harry, who was still smiling at him like an angel.  An outer space angel.  Which were definitely real things, okay.

“I’m a ten to hear that.”  Harry mumbled after Louis had gotten settled.

Louis laughed despite himself, flicking Harry in the ear.  “You’re a dork.”

It was minutes of quiet, but felt like hours of the two of them just lying there in each other’s comfort.  Louis knew he would be nodding off if it weren’t for the erratic thump of his chest, still, keeping him up like an unending alarm clock.  He thought Harry must’ve been hearing it just as loud, though he didn’t move any further away.

They stayed like that for the rest of the afternoon, only going back to finish the test after Louis had eaten dinner.

Niall, Liam, and he tested Harry’s intrapersonal intelligence and his inter-personal intelligence the following week.  And then one morning, unbeknownst to Louis, they were asking about Harry’s external physiology.

“So, Harry, how do you reproduce?”  Louis’ eyes widened and he almost choked on his tongue.  They knew Harry had a penis, they had ribbed Louis enough for that fact.  But asking Harry about reproducing?  That was not something they’d discussed.

“ _Liam_.”  Louis gave him a scathing look, before turning a sheepish one on Harry, in apology.

“What?  This is important to know.”  Liam pursed his lips down at his clipboard, giving Harry another look.  “It looks like you have the same reproductive parts as we do…”  Except for the supposed womb, none of them said. “Do you excrete any fluids?”

Louis groaned, rubbing at his face.  Niall seemed relaxed, arms crossed and feet propped up on the table as he eyed Harry.  Who was glancing curiously between the three of them.  His eyes lingered a little longer on Louis’ covered face.  “Umm, no…”

Liam hummed, flipping a page over in his hands.  Niall sat up after another moment, shifting into a normal position as he continued eying Harry critically.  “You said before you eat minerals in the ground?  And that you don’t have to drink anything right?  Maybe you would have to if you ate something similar to what we ate.”

Louis’ shoulders tensed slightly.  “No.”  Everyone turned to him at his strained tone.  Except for Niall who had probably been expecting his disapproval.  “We’re not giving Harry human food.  We have no idea what kind of effect it’ll have on him.”  He moved his eyes to Liam, hoping he would see reason and agree with him.  He didn’t look very obliging at the moment.

“It might be a good idea.”  Liam hummed.  Louis’ mouth felt dry.

“We don’t even have a control variable.  What if whatever we give him he’s just allergic to?  I’m not willing to test this with a variety of foods.  And the food we eat up here isn’t even—“

“It’s fine, Lou…  I’ll do it.”  His eyes immediately flicked to Harry, Liam and Niall’s already there.  He could see the understanding in Harry’s expression.  He needed to do it.  He understood that they needed more information on him and he was willing to provide it.  Even at his own detriment.

They gave him a packet of food, one of the supplies they had the most of (and that they liked the least).  Harry made a considering face as he swallowed and Liam made sure to probe him on his tasting abilities.  Since they could.  Niall laughed when Louis tried to explain to Harry the sucking motion he’d have to utilize to pull the food out.

They settled down a bit after that, with their tests for that day, Louis watching Harry closely while the others compiled more data they wished to collect.  Louis simultaneously hated and enjoyed it.  He wanted to learn more about Harry, so much more, about his body and the way he came to be and how he felt about everything, but he also didn’t want to treat Harry like an animal in a lab.  He was more than that and they certainly weren’t treating him with the rules they should’ve been.  Sure they had his consent, but they could have potentially been hurting him.  Who knew what the food would do to his system.  Louis certainly didn’t.

Liam and Niall asked Harry about his parents while they waited for the food to digest, or process, however it would, in Harry’s body.  His expression clouded with confusion as he wrinkled his brow and tried to come up with a conclusive response to the others.

“I… I don’t really remember.”  Liam and Niall were sitting across from them at the table.  Louis had been relegated to sitting beside Harry, so that he could check his temperature at regular intervals and make sure he was feeling fine.  “Vaguely.  I know they existed, but… they left with the others.”

“There were others?”  Niall asked, scribbling things down in his notebook, Liam doing the same in his.  Louis felt a little unhelpful, even as he went to check the band they’d hooked around Harry’s arm to scratch down the current temperature of his body.  There was no noticeable change. “What happened to them?”

“They disappeared into the water.”  Louis looked up to Harry’s expression, his mouth pulled into a frown, brows wrinkled as he tried to piece together memories in his head.  They all knew what the water was.  Most of the planet was made up of it, but that still didn’t explain what had exactly happened.

“All of them, just left…?”  Liam asked.  Both of their pens had slowed to a halt at Harry’s earlier words, uncertainty in the shift of their hands against the paper, in the way they watched him.  He nodded again, curls brushing the side of his cheeks.  Louis reached up to tuck them behind his ear, receiving a small smile in return.

“I’m feeling a five.”  Harry mumbled a moment later where he was facing Louis.  Louis nodded, turning back to mark the number down in Harry’s emotional test data.  He had asked about Harry’s family before and they’d had a short conversation about it.  But he’d never told Liam and Niall, feeling like it was a bit too personal.  Even when they’d been coming up with questions for Harry’s emotion based tests.

The disappearance of Harry’s entire race and he was feeling a five.  Louis wondered how long ago it had to have happened for the confusion to have muddled Harry’s emotional response.  Niall and Liam asked him a few more questions on that vein of thought, but Harry didn’t remember much.  Guessed it had happened some 5,000 years after he’d been born.  That he’d been by himself completely on this planet for 5,000 more years had Louis feeling a tightness in his chest.

Harry made a face, turning back to Louis, while Niall and Liam continued with their notes.

“What’s wrong?”  Louis asked, voice quiet still, thinking about what it would be like if he’d lost his family.  If he’d been the last human on Earth for just as long as Harry.  Harry clenched a hand over his stomach, making another face.  “Feels… weird.”

Louis’ eyes widened, concern immediately shooting through him.  “Are you okay?  Where does it hurt?”  He started touching all over him, checking his forehead, seeing if he was discoloring anywhere, lifting his shirt to check his stomach was fine, that he wasn’t sweating or showing any signs of outward change.

Harry’s giggle pulled him back to a more level headed analysis, where his hand was on his arm.  He stilled, looking up at him, “Just feel’s squirmy Lou.  Nothing bad…”  He still made another face though, which had Louis’ hand moving of its own accord.  He ran his palm over Harry’s tummy, knowing his younger cousin had always liked when Louis had done it, when he’d been a toddler and his stomach ached.  Harry’s expression eased at the touch, “Feels better.”

Louis’ own expression softened as he rubbed over Harry’s belly, another small giggle falling from Harry’s lips at the motion.  Louis grinned, noting how close their faces were.  He glanced to the side, feeling eyes on him.  Liam and Niall were both sitting there with varying degrees of discomfort on their faces.  Liam’s face slightly pink as he frowned, Niall’s brows drawn together as they watched Louis rub Harry’s stomach.  Right, that… probably wasn’t normal.  His hand slowed, “Umm…” before he was removing it entirely, with a slight noise of protest from Harry.

“Right.”  He took his hand back to write down Harry’s ‘squirmy’ stomach symptoms.  He was probably super red.  At least it felt that way, where Niall was still staring at him. 

It was another hour or so before Harry was making more weird faces, explaining that there was a feeling of pressure in his groin area.  Niall was the one who volunteered to show Harry how to pee.  If that’s what he was going to do.  Louis hoped the food hadn’t had any irreversible effects on Harry’s body.

He waited anxiously until the two returned, Liam telling him to calm down and that it would be fine in the meanwhile.  Louis almost wanted to start yelling at him for the stupid idea, even though it had been Niall’s, and how he couldn’t believe he’d agreed to it.

When Niall came back with exclamations that Harry could in fact excrete fluids, Louis never thought hearing such a weird statement could make him so happy.  Harry seemed fine, at least, when he came back to sit beside him and tell him all about it.  It would’ve been slightly awkward if Louis wasn’t so smitten with Harry and his glowing cheeks and awe-struck smile as he explained what it felt like to pee for the first time.

Niall laughed at least, adding in his own point of view.  Liam looked on in mildly disturbed amusement.

It was later, much later, days having gone by before Louis was slipping into his suit again and leaving the spacecraft for the first time in a while.  He was with Harry, following after him across the uneven ground and unknown territory towards the water.  Where Harry’s family had disappeared to.

Louis hadn’t been that far from the spaceship before, but he felt safe with Harry there, watching the way the winds blew his hair every which way and his shoulders were back, his feet moving soundlessly against the ground.

When they arrived, Louis turned to face where Harry was looking, allowing himself to take it in.  They stood beside one another and Louis felt his mouth go dry.  He stared out over the water, ice crunching together and leaving behind smaller chunks that overlapped in the cold.  There was an unending noise as they collided and rumbled together. 

The light of the stars shifted off the icy glass, unable to grip onto its slick surface.  It was an arresting sight, the ice sparkling, like diamonds were buried just under the uppermost layer of it, glittering in mirror of the stars.  There was something about it that pulled at Louis’ core, made him want to draw nearer and yet pull as far away from it as he could all the same.

Louis tore his eyes away to look over towards Harry who was blinking slowly down at the far-reaching surface.  This was where his family had disappeared to.  Where they had gone when they’d left him all alone.

Harry took a step towards the water’s edge, Louis reaching out to grab his arm, again a deep ashy blue, almost blending him into the surroundings.  Louis wondered why Harry hadn’t followed after them, his family, why he hadn’t walked into the depths of the tide, the thirteen moons above crashing the waves together, unsettling over more than half the planet’s surface.

Harry looked back towards him when he felt Louis’ glove on his arm.  He couldn’t see him, but he nodded anyways, taking a step back until he was where he had originally been and farther from the grave in front of them.

Louis let his hand slip down Harry’s arm until he could grab Harry’s hand.  He couldn’t feel it through his suit, but he felt better knowing they were connected, knowing he could tug Harry back home when he was ready.  That Harry couldn’t leave him alone out there.  Couldn’t fade away into space and stardust.

//*\\\//*\\\//*\\\

“He creepy stares at you.”  Niall said, which had Louis almost snorting out his water, choking on the drink.

He breathed out an uncomfortable huff of laughter, “Creepy stares?”

Niall nodded, resting his chin against his fists on the table, with a grin.  “Yeah, the way he looks at you sometimes is super creepy.  It’s like he wants to eat you.”  When Louis continued to give him skeptical eyes, his grin grew, “Just ask Liam, he’d probably agree.”

Louis pursed his lips, having no idea what Niall was talking about.  Sure, sometimes Harry would look at him for extended, unnecessary periods of time.  But that didn’t mean he looked like he wanted to eat him.  He just had an intense gaze...  And Louis thought it was sort of cute.  Regardless of what Liam and Niall thought.

“Where is Liam, by the way?”  He asked, hoping it wasn’t quite so obvious he was changing the subject.

“Teaching Harry how to write.”

Louis’ eyes lit up.  “Really?”  He hadn’t even thought to teach Harry how to write.  He figured Harry was probably enjoying learning how to though.  “I’m glad they’re getting along…” Louis mumbled a moment after.  He wanted Liam to like Harry because he liked Harry and it only seemed fair that Louis’ best friends shared his feelings.  He was pretty sure he did, but all the same.  Seeing evidence was the best way to prove it to himself.

Niall’s throat clearing drew Louis’ attention back to him.  He was looking at him with clear blue eyes.  “You like him, don’t you?”

Louis stared back for a few long moments, in indecision on how to respond.  Even though the fluttering of his heart was revealing in itself.  “Of course I like him… You like him too.”

Niall shook his head.  “Don’t pretend like you don’t know what I’m talking about.”

Louis looked down at the table, fiddling with his nails.  There was no use in lying to Niall… The hollowing feeling in his stomach wasn’t convincing him otherwise.  “I guess I do like him… more than like a friend should.”  He blushed slightly, scratching at his cheek.

“You want to jump his bones.”  Niall’s enthusiastic tone and laughter abruptly shocked Louis from his worries.

“No I don’t.”  He knew it was a lie immediately after it left his mouth.  He sighed at the face of Niall’s amusement.  “I don’t even know if he can… experience that.  Stuff…”

Niall nodded, seeming slightly more serious.  “Well we learned he can pee so I can’t imagine his dick isn’t used for similar things as a human dick is.”

Louis could feel the heat burning his face.  He was pretty sure this was the warmest he’d been since they’d last seen the sun.  “It’s not like it matters, I can’t do anything about it.”

“And why not?”

There was a cold feeling at the back of his throat when he swallowed, fiddling his hands beneath the table.  His voice was quieter, serious.  “He’s an alien Niall.  He lives here on Neptune… And, and I don’t even know if he’s capable of like… love… I can’t just push my feelings on to him when he’s been alone for some 5,000 years.”  He barely glanced up when he finished, unsure whether he wanted to see the expression on Niall’s face.

He was met with encouraging eyes, determined as he spoke.  “Louis.  You can’t seriously think he doesn’t like you back?  You’re in charge of the emotional aspect of his tests.  You’re the one he spends all of his time with, who he _sleeps_ with.”  Niall seemed incredulous even as Louis bit the inside of his cheek and stared back, stomach flipping and rolling in the kind of tumbles and cartwheels that would end in a broken ankle.  “It doesn’t matter that he’s an alien, you’re the one who convinced Liam and I that we shouldn’t be afraid of him just because he was something unknown to us.” 

He didn’t wait for Louis to respond. Though Louis was going to point out that it was actually Harry who had done those things.  He exhaled a breath.  “Louis.  You can’t know you’re pushing your feelings on to him if you don’t try to tell him.”

The long silence that followed reminded Louis of the moments when he was outside the spacecraft and staring up at the stars, completely alone in the universe, completely silent save for the inhales and exhales of his own breath.

“I haven’t thought about taking Harry to Earth with us… At least, not really.  Because there would be so many… possibilities I don’t even want to consider.”  Louis breathed out, keeping his eyes steady on the edge of the linoleum.  “We’re leaving in three months, I can’t tell him, Niall.  I just… can’t.”  Louis got up before Niall could respond to that, though he made a noise of disagreement as Louis walked out of the control room.

He walked slowly, thoughts weighing him down, until he made it to their activities room.  He looked up to see Liam pointing at a page with his pencil, voice clear as he instructed Harry how to move his hand.  Harry had his tongue stuck out in concentration as he traced over the letters Liam had left him and Liam nodded, pleased when he wrote them correctly.

Louis watched them, feeling a tugging in his chest.  One that he hadn’t felt since he’d last talked to his mom on the phone.  The sensation of longing and knowing Louis would miss someone so unbelievably much.  He wanted to go over to them, wanted to watch as Harry learned to use his big hands for something so advanced.  Wanted to join in the reassuring looks Liam was giving when Harry screwed up particularly bad.

But he couldn’t step further into the room.  He leaned against the opening of the door, instead, even as Harry looked up and his eyes met with green. 

He felt that silence again, when he’d look at the stars and feel completely encompassed with the darkness of space, far-reaching and empty as it was.  This time though, with Harry’s small smile directed at him, the curve of his lips like the bright focus of stars bursting over him, Louis didn’t feel so alone.

//*\\\//*\\\//*\\\

“Want you to rub my tummy again.”

Louis grinned, not having to be asked twice before he was slipping his hand beneath the worn fabric of Harry’s shirt.  Touching over the soft, smooth skin there.  “You’re such a baby.”

“Says the man 9,969 years younger than me.”  Harry replied, tone mulish.  Even as he relaxed into Louis’ touches.

“Bringing up our age again, Harold.  Seems quite childish.”  Louis pinched at Harry’s side, watching as he turned to face him, smiling his bright smile again.  Their faces were terribly close, but Louis was used to it.  Used to the lack of space Harry enjoyed.  Louis would be lying if he said he didn’t like it as well.

Harry’s skin was cool beneath his fingertips.  Louis shifted closer, pulling Harry in slightly towards his chest.  Wanting to warm him up.  Always wanting to be closer.

Harry complied, humming happily as he turned on his side to snuggle back into Louis’ chest and be his little spoon.  So Louis could continue rubbing his stomach.

Louis wanted to bury his nose into Harry’s curls.  So he did.  Shifted so that he could lean his chin against Harry’s shoulder and tilt his face into his neck, into the hinge of his jaw.  Harry made a content noise when Louis’ lips brushed against the smooth surface there and Louis blinked open his eyes in realization.  His heart was thumping a mile a minute when he realized what he was doing.  And that Harry seemed to be welcoming it.

Louis shifted back slightly, though he kept their legs tangled and his hand flat on his stomach.  It wouldn’t be a problem if he left just one kiss on the curve of Harry’s jaw, right?  He really wanted to.

Harry’s voice drew him back from his daze.  Petulant, is what it sounded like.  “Louis… you’re not close enough.”  Harry tugged on Louis’ arm to try to pull him back down until he was completely pressed up against Harry’s back again.

Louis grinned, though his pulse still wouldn’t calm itself.  He felt very close to Harry, actually.  Could feel every shudder of his breath against his chest, every movement of his bum against Louis’ front. “What do you mean I’m not close enough?”  Louis laughed, a bit airy.

“Not close enough…”  Harry repeated, as if that was explanation enough.  Louis removed his hand from Harry’s grasp to grip his hips and stop whatever it was that he thought he was doing. 

He shifted his head back down to rest against Harry’s shoulder again.  Voice quieting, “How about now?” when he felt the vibration of Harry’s hum and the shake of his head again.  Louis couldn’t stop the smile from twitching the corners of his lips even as he felt the rush of adrenaline spinning in his veins.

He tilted his head down again to nuzzle into Harry’s neck, breathe him in.  Like stars.  If Louis knew what stars smelled like, with their heat and bursts of gold, he knew they would smell like Harry.  “And now?”  He relaxed his hold on Harry’s hip, shifting his hand up to draw light circles into the side of Harry’s waist with his thumb.  Harry squirmed under his touch.

“No.  Like before.”

“Like before…” Louis hummed, hating how Harry’s small movements were turning him on, making his voice go lower.  He didn’t shift back though, wanting the torture up close and personal rather than from the other side of the bed.

He took in a small breath, Harry settling some under his hold.  He knew it would only be for a moment though, before Harry would ask him for more. 

He moved his mouth to where it had been before, against the sharp bone of Harry’s jaw, that felt so soft beneath his lips.  And Harry made another pleased noise when Louis dragged his lips ever so gently against the spot there.  Louis moved to kiss beneath his ear.  A single press of lips and a voice cloaked in warmth, “Is this close enough for you, sweetheart?”

“Keep doing that.” He whispered in reply.

Louis didn’t move away or back to where he’d been when he asked, slowly, “Doing what?”

“That _thing_.”  He could tell Harry was getting impatient by the tone of his voice, thinking Louis was pretending not to know what he wanted.  Louis was enjoying every single moment of it.

He grinned, heart dancing in time with the quick laugh that left him.  He touched his mouth to Harry’s cheek after another moment, a small movement.  “This?”

“Yes. That.”  He didn’t even wait for Louis to process what he’d said before he was adding on a demanding, juvenile, “Again.”  His voice was bright and Louis laughed again at how unbelievably cute he was, especially when he followed with, “Lots of them.”

Louis kissed his cheek again, pulling back to see Harry’s closed eyes and the softness of his smile.  “You want lots of kisses, Harold?”

Louis watched the word form on Harry’s lips, captivated. “Yes.” 

He pressed his mouth to the corner of Harry’s pretty mouth, Harry breathing in a slow breath that Louis could feel expanding against his sternum.  He let his lips linger there, before pulling back again to trail a few kisses back towards his jaw.  “So demanding…”  Louis mumbled, though he wasn’t bothered.  As if he could be bothered at all when he was allowed to kiss all over Harry, touch over him wherever he wanted. 

Well maybe not everywhere he wanted.  He kept his hand at Harry’s waist.

“Louis…”  Harry’s voice was tentative, drawing his attention away from thinking about how soft and pretty he was.  He slowed his kisses, leaving his nose at the space behind his ear. 

“What is it?”  He asked when Harry didn’t immediately speak.  He could feel the hammering in his chest heighten at the eeriness of Harry’s next words.

“I’m scared…”  He pulled back, reaching up to pet through Harry’s hair, comb back the hair at his temple.  Shifting to look at his profile.

Harry was staring forward, thumbing over the edge of Louis’ pillowcase.  “Scared of what?”

He thumbed along the shell of Harry’s ear, waiting for him to respond.  Own pulse beating as if he were the one who was afraid.  He didn’t want Harry to be scared of anything.

Harry shifted after another moment, turning around to face Louis, look him right in the eyes when he whispered.  “Disappearing.”

Louis knew Harry was talking about his family again.  He rested back down against the pillow, to be face to face with Harry, reaching forward to grab his hand, curl his fingers over Harry’s fist.  “You won’t.”  He thumbed along the ridge of Harry’s knuckles, watching Harry blink back at him, soft and so unsure.  Louis’ voice was barely above a whisper.  “I won’t let you disappear.”

He closed his eyes at Louis’ promise, quiet.  Before he leaned forward to kiss the back of Louis’ hand, it felt like it burned.  His skin tingled when Harry pulled back.  Louis’ cheeks felt warm, sunburnt in the rays of heat that shot up his arm from Harry’s kiss.

“I promise.”  Louis murmured when Harry looked at him again.  He was drowning in green.  Green brought to life with the loving caress of the sun’s touch.

Louis missed the sun, but being in Harry’s presence was enough to make him forget that he’d ever known the sun’s warmth at all.  Nothing was more important than the way Harry was looking at him.  The way Harry was leaning forward to kiss the corner of his mouth, like Louis had done to him before.

His own breath caught, his eyes slipping shut when Harry pressed nearer again and kissed him more fully on the mouth, soft lips slotting together.

Louis felt sharp tingles on his mouth with every movement they made.  Every sigh and quiet intake.  Stars sparkled at his lash line, their shimmer landing across Harry’s cheekbones when Louis shifted on top of him, opening his eyes to see them colored a soft pink.

Harry opened his own eyes after a heartbeat’s pass, pupils’ dark as he licked sweetly over his lower lip.  Louis leaned back in before he could fully finish, catching the tip of his tongue and opening his mouth with his own.

Warm.  Hot like a supernova.  Harry’s hands slid beneath his shirt, touching over his stomach and causing the tight clench of his abdomen.  Louis shifted more fully on top of him, reaching up to brush the back of his knuckles against the smooth skin of his cheek and jaw, pull back to suck ever so gently at his plush lower lip.

The noise Harry made shot a yearning straight through Louis’ veins.  Louis let their lower halves drag together, a shock to his system, the pleasure gripping him hard.  It had been so long, and Harry felt so good.  Harry mewled into Louis’ mouth and Louis drank it up, pressing down a bit harder when he rotated his hips again.

There was a loud knock on the door.  Louis immediately stalled, cheeks flaming red as he stared down at Harry.  “Louis, did you put your papers in the control room?  We need them, but, uh… we can’t find them so…”

Louis was going to kill Liam.  He was going to brutally murder him.

“Louis?”  He asked tentatively, a moment later when Louis hadn’t said anything.  As if he was completely oblivious to the fact Louis had been about to do some very illicit things with Harry.

Louis shifted up, being careful not to sit on Harry’s legs, frowning when Harry had to drop his hands from beneath his shirt.  He turned around to see his file-folder, the one they had probably been looking for on the desk.  He got up, grabbed it and practically flung it at Liam’s chest when he opened the door just enough to stick his upper half out.  Keeping Harry, who was still on his bed, and his raging boner, well hidden.

He narrowed his eyes at Liam and his completely oblivious expression.  “That it?”

Liam nodded, voice quieting slightly as he said, “Uh, yeah, actually Niall wanted me to tell you that if Harry pops a boner you should make sure to write it down.  You know, take them notes.”  He gave a lewd smile after and it was a good thing he wasn’t closer because Louis practically threw the door open to strangle him.

Liam ran away with a laugh falling behind him.  So much for innocent.  “You fuckers are jealous assholes!”  Louis called after him, and to the rest of the ship so Niall could hear him too.  He could plainly pick out the Irish fucker’s laughter echoing right back to him. 

Fuck them and their stupid cock-blocking faces.

When Louis turned back to re-enter the room, Harry was propped up on his elbows, brow scrunched in confusion.  Even as he looked Louis over.

He knew he must’ve been so red in the face.  Half from embarrassment and the other half from wanting to ring both his friends’ necks.  And maybe a small portion wanting to laugh at the idiocy of the situation.  Ten years and he’d been so close to getting some action.  Ruined because his best friends sucked.  His dick was definitely flagging.

He cleared his throat, drawing Harry’s attention back to his face.  “Sorry about that…”

Harry gave him a small smile.  “That’s okay.”  He cheeks were also faintly pink and Louis stored that information for later.  Not that he would take notes.  Fuck Niall very much.  But because he liked the way the color highlighted Harry’s soft complexion and the pretty pink of his lips.  It was a moment before “Can we continue kissing now?”

Louis grinned, exhaling a pent up breath as he made his way back to the bed.  “Please.”

They continued making out.  And it was the best thing Louis had ever experienced.  They made sure to make out on Niall and Liam’s beds too, just to spite them.  Louis’ vindictive side felt much better after doing so.

And once they’d started their little kissing activity Louis found his mouth to often be preoccupied with Harry’s.  It was as if he’d just learned how to breathe and Harry was oxygen.  He couldn’t get enough.

Niall and Liam were pretty disgusted with their PDA, but Louis didn’t care much for their opinion.  He could be content forever just kissing Harry.  He wasn’t even that disappointed when he figured they wouldn’t get any further than just making out and the occasional hand and blowjob.  None of them having brought lube or condoms.  For obvious reasons.

He just liked Harry so, so much.  And Niall was probably right.  He was an idiot if he didn’t think Harry liked him just a smidgen.  Or more than that, honestly.  He thought about it often, when the four of them would be asleep in their room and Harry would be curled up in front of him, breathing evenly and warm where they touched.

He would hold Harry tight, run his fingers down his arm, and wonder if he could have him forever.  If Harry would want that too.

//*\\\//*\\\//*\\\

It was a few weeks later and Louis was lying in bed again.  Barely awake and blinking over the pillow at Harry’s sleep soft expression.

He wasn’t sure if the steady pull in his chest was because he knew he was in love or because he wanted to deny that fact.

He hadn’t meant to let it happen.  Hadn’t planned on letting Harry get under his skin and root himself there.  On a completely different planet.  Years away from his life back home.

Louis was thirsty, throat scratchy and tight.  He watched Harry for a moment longer, watched the way his mouth was parted just slightly and he dreamed so sweet.  Louis stroked a thumb across his cheek, just once before extracting himself from Harry’s arms.  He tucked him up under the blanket again even though he knew he wouldn’t be gone for long.  He didn’t want Harry to be uncomfortable or cold for even a moment.

Louis briefly noticed that Liam and Niall were also not in their beds as he made his way out of the room and into the darkened hall.  Both boys were in the console room and they both looked up at Louis when he entered, before exchanging glances with one another again.  If Louis didn’t already think that was suspicious, he definitely would’ve caught on when Liam cleared his throat and said, “Uh, Louis.  Niall and I, we wanted to talk to you about something…”

He finished retrieving a bag of water from the storage container before he was slowly walking back towards where Niall was seated at the table.  His brows furrowing slightly from their somber expressions.  He chuckled, throat still scratchy.  “This isn’t like an intervention or something, is it?”

Niall waited for Louis to sit down before he spoke up.  Tone wary, expression withdrawn, “Louis… Listen.”  It did nothing to ease Louis’ trepidation.  They exchanged another look before Niall was continuing, “We want to take Harry to Earth with us.  And we know you do too.”

“But there’s a lot we need to consider.” Liam tacked on and Louis was suddenly feeling the clamminess of his palms and the jittering of his leg under the table.  He could feel the color draining from his face and he took a steadying breath to calm his already fraying nerves.

That was not a conversation he wanted to have.  He’d hardly had time to think about it.  He’d hardly _allowed_ himself time to think about it.

Liam continued standing at the edge of the table, eying Louis.  He and Niall were probably expecting his reaction, because Liam continued after another moment.  With what Louis hoped was the worst of their concerns.  “We have no way of testing whether his body will be able to handle the higher frequencies of ultraviolet light on Earth.”

 “Or if the heat will kill him.”  Louis stiffened at Niall’s words.  He knew it would be a possibility.  He didn’t want to think about it.  They clearly weren’t trying to ease Louis into the topic.

Even as Niall’s voice softened, and he placed a hand over Louis’.  “We also don’t know whether he’ll be okay in prolonged levels of oxygen… Yes, it looks like he’s been fine staying in here with us for a few months, but if we take him to Earth, there’s no coming back…”

“Jesus…”  Louis exhaled a heavy breath, finding the table with his gaze.  Voice strained, “Do we really need to be talking about this, right now?”

“Yes.”  Niall replied almost immediately.  “We only have a few months before we’re heading back and we can’t decide halfway home that it’s not worth the risk of having Harry there.”

Louis felt his chest tighten.  He didn’t want to imagine anything bad happening to Harry.  Didn’t want to imagine leaving him either.  Couldn’t he just wait until it was too late to decide and just let his gut make the decision for him?  “I can’t just leave him here…”  He exhaled, voice so quiet and shaken he almost didn’t want to believe it was his own.  He looked back up at both Liam and Niall, and their uncertain expressions.

One thing they hadn’t brought up yet.  And that Louis did in their place was, “There’s also no guarantee that Harry won’t be taken away from us.”  From Louis.  That scientists wouldn’t take him away to dissect until they could understand.

They sat in silence for a few long minutes.  As if Niall and Liam hadn’t discussed how to further their conversation once they had gotten that far.  No doubt they had more worries to share, but before they could say anything Louis was speaking again.  Sounding on the wrong side of panic-stricken, “So what?! Should we make a goddamn pros and cons list?”  He looked between the two of them, tone growing less shrill the longer he waited to speak, and he looked down at the table. “I don’t want to leave him.  But I don’t want him to hurt either…”

“We don’t want you to have to leave him either.  We want to bring Harry back… We just have to consider whether it’s worth it…”  Liam appeased.  Still standing.  And fidgeting.

Louis took a few deep breaths.  There was no point in yelling at Niall and Liam.  They were just as lost as he was.  They just wouldn’t be losing as much as he would, in either situation.

He stared down at the table.  Until a soft voice was catching his attention and he looked up to see Harry in the doorway, looking sleep rumbled and quiet.

“Louis…” Harry mumbled, rubbing at his eyes, tone sleepy and muffled with yawns, “I woke up and you weren’t there…”

Louis’ chest ached, “Go back to bed, baby.  I’ll be there in a bit.”

Harry nodded, smacking his lips together before he registered the other two in the room as well.  “Goodnight, everyone.”  He murmured happily, moving back out of the doorway towards their bed.

Liam and Niall murmured replies, and Louis hated the pitying looks they sent back his way.  He exhaled again, rubbing at his own eyes.  “I don’t know.  I just… I don’t know.”

//*\\\//*\\\//*\\\

They did decide to make a pros and cons list.  A massive one, with so many cons Louis felt ill to even look at them.  The pros list was also pretty large, though most of them seemed to fall back to the fact that Liam, Niall, and Louis wanted to bring Harry back with them regardless of the cons.

But there were still more cons.  He supposed he should ask Harry.  Which is what Niall and Liam told him he’d have to do within the month’s end.

But he really didn’t want to bring it up.

They only had one more month before they would have to leave.  Just one more month on Neptune before their long journey home.  Louis didn’t want Harry to not be there.  Couldn’t stand the thought of Harry not being with him.  It made his stomach squeamish and his mouth feel dry.  And it made his heart ache most of all, thinking about never seeing Harry again after they left.

But there were so many risks that Louis didn’t want to consider.  He loved Harry.  And he couldn’t let him die.

He _wouldn’t_ let him.

Louis made his way to the activities room where Harry said he would be.  He was sitting down at the table, practicing his writing.  And he was beautiful.  Louis clenched his hand once, trying to force the excess energy out through his fingertips.  He moved closer, Harry smiling up at him when he noticed he was there.

“Look Louis, I wrote your name.”  He pointed out the sloppy writing when Louis approached, scooting over on the bench so Louis could sit beside him.

Louis’ lips twitched into a small smile, where he leaned over to kiss his shoulder. “That’s very good, Harry.”

Harry preened at the compliment, putting his pencil back to the paper to draw a small crooked heart beneath Louis’ name.  He looked back up to Louis for approval after he’d done so and Louis’ chest clenched when he blinked down at it.

Harry leaned into his side slightly when he didn’t respond right away, head angled to the side.  Louis turned to him, blurting, “You know I’m leaving in a month, right?”  Harry’s brows twitched before pulling together.  “Like, Liam, Niall, and I…”

Harry nodded slowly after a long moment.  Before replying, “And me.”  He looked so genuinely expectant and Louis couldn’t meet his gaze.  He sucked in a cool breath even as it did nothing to stop the feeling of suffocation choking his lungs.

He shook his head, hardly managing to get his next words out. “You could die...”  He tentatively reached out for Harry’s hand, to thumb across his knuckles and stare down at the contact.  Anything to keep his eyes away from Harry’s.

He noted, as he brushed his fingers over Harry’s hand, that Harry was warmer, had stopped being so cold after he had slowed his leaving of the ship altogether.  Liam had wanted to see if Harry could live off of their food instead of his own, and so far the experiment had worked.  Harry was warm and he was soft and he was so, so beautiful.  And Louis wanted to keep him so badly.

Harry pulled his hand from Louis’ grasp.  Louis finally snapping his eyes up to study his expression.  He tightened his hand against nothing, swallowed against the itch in his throat.  Harry’s eyebrows were still pinched, a frown on his pretty lips, and his tone just as quiet as Louis’. “You can’t just leave me.  You promised you wouldn’t let me disappear.”

“I won’t let you.”  Louis replied almost instantaneously.  A flare of panic surging through his system.  His shoulder’s tensing and limbs going rigid.

His response only seemed to make Harry’s frown deepen, his eyes widen in confusion. “Then you’ll take me.”  It wasn’t so much a question as it was a request.  A petition to get Louis to do just that.

He watched Harry’s gaze soften in uncertainty.  His fingertips twitched against the tabletop.  “Harry… I want to talk about this.”

He didn’t have much to say when Harry was grabbing onto his shoulders a few long moments before nodding his head.  Still, it seemed, trying to get Louis to understand.  “I’ll be okay.  You won’t let anything hurt me.”

He looked so hopeful, and Louis’ pulse hit harder.  He couldn’t stop Harry from getting hurt.  He wouldn’t be able to.  His voice was scratchy and he was back to being unable to look Harry in the eyes.  “I don’t have control over how your body will react to the sun, to the environment on Earth…”  He couldn’t protect him.  He wouldn’t be able to if the worst of their fears came true.  His eyes found the hard white plastic of the seat beneath them.  His resolve wavering even as he said, “I can’t let you die…”

Harry shook his head again, defiantly.  “If you leave me here, I’ll just die without you.”  Louis felt that sinking in his gut again.  Wondering if it was meant as a threat, or if Harry really would.  Would disappear into the water like his family had.

Harry’s breathing was quicker now, his grip on Louis tightening. “You can’t leave me here, Louis.  You can’t.”  It was only a moment before he was wrapping his arms around Louis’ neck and shifting onto his lap to press his nose into his neck.  His voice breaking, “P-please.”

Louis tightened his hold around Harry’s waist, pulling him even closer.  His voice trembling, “ _Harry_ …”

Harry nudged even closer still, as if being there would stop Louis from leaving him.  His curls brushed against Louis’ neck and Louis reached up to rest his hand at the back of Harry’s head.  Holding him there so there wouldn’t be an inch of space between them.  “Please.  Don’t want to be alone again.  Don’t want to be without you…”

Louis’ chest ached.  Longing and uncertainty and frustration warring there.  Harry wanted to come back with them.  Harry wanted to be with him.  And Louis wanted Harry so, so badly.  He turned his face into Harry’s hair, fingers tangling in his curls.  Breathing out.  “Okay.”  It felt like a heavy weight pressing against his sternum, even as he repeated himself, louder so Harry could hear.  “O-okay… Harry, you can come back with us.  I want you to come back to Earth with me.”

It was the longest moment of Louis’ life, before Harry was pulling back to meet his eyes.  Harry’s were red-rimmed and wet, and Louis thumbed over the soft skin beneath one of them, “You’re crying.”

Harry lifted his own hand up to rub the back of his wrist against the tears.  His voice was thick, nose stuffing up, though he gave the tiniest of smiles, “I didn’t know I could do that…”

Louis exhaled a huff and it felt like his lungs lightened with the breath, like his chest didn’t feel quite so heavy or so weighed down with doubt.  Harry gave a small giggle and Louis leaned forward to kiss it from his mouth.

“I love you,” were the last words he breathed, that he kissed into Harry’s lips before their conversation was decidedly over.

Harry had his hands on Louis’ jaw, and Louis had his fingers in Harry’s hair, and Harry’s lips tasted even sweeter than before.

//*\\\//*\\\//*\\\

The last month they spent preparing for their next six years on the spacecraft.  They went over their stock of food, water, and oxygen.  They would have to ration it out a little less if Harry was going to be sharing with them.  He didn’t have to eat as much, only every five days or so, but that still limited their supply from what they had originally been given. 

Niall planned out their eating schedule, Liam planned for their continued research, Louis and Harry collected the last few samples of rock and dirt they would need.

When Louis came into the lab one day, two weeks before they would depart, and saw the tiniest green bud growing out of Neptune’s ashy, rocky surface, he couldn’t believe his eyes.  It had come from the sample he’d taken the day Harry had found him.  The one they had stuck under false UV radiation and had planted seeds in. 

It changed the entire game.  Neptune might not have been a dud planet after all…  There was the sudden possibility that maybe it _could_ sustain human life.

They would have a while to check, to see if the bud would grow into something more, something digestible to the human system.

Their supply of Neptune’s planetary material grew much larger after that.  So much for useless rocks.

When it was their final day there, all four of them went back out to see the planet off.  Take in their fill of it one last time and experience what it was like to be completely surrounded by space with only a few layers of material separating them.

They ran around and they hugged and they sang and they slipped on the ice, and it was the most amazing experience.  They had each other and they had the moon and the stars and in that moment it was enough.

It was perfect.

And later that day, after they’d gone over every last little detail one final time, they got ready to leave.

Harry was fitted in one of their spare suits, tucked into a chair and smiling up at Louis.  Trying to be reassuring, and scrunching his nose up cutely when Louis bent forward to kiss him another time.  “Gonna put your helmet on now, okay?”

“Okay.”  Harry grinned, his excitement trying its best to rub off on Louis.  And though Louis was apprehensive about their journey, he couldn’t deny the small flickers of excitement bursting beneath his skin.  They were heading back after all. 

It would take a few more years, sure, but he couldn’t wait to get back to Earth.  Even if his home was sitting right in front of him.  “One more.”  Harry murmured, pursing his lips up and closing his eyes.

Louis exhaled a breath, a soft laugh before he was doing as Harry asked, leaning in to kiss him again, and murmuring his own quiet reassurance, “I love you.”

“I love you too.” Harry whispered back, green eyes sparkling in anticipation.  He’d told Louis the week before that he wanted to meet his family when they got back, and try all of his favorite foods, and go to a beach with him, and his work, and his apartment.  Louis had told him he would show him everything and he had meant it.  Anything Harry wanted, Louis would give him.

He smiled down at him when Harry murmured, “Ready now.”  And he watched him for a moment longer before brushing his hair back and settling the helmet onto his head, tightening the clasps onto his suit so that they were shut as tightly as they could be.

He put his own helmet on a moment later to ask through the speaker, “You good?” 

When he received an affirmative and a head nod, he moved to his own seat.  He looked forward to Niall and Liam who were closer to the control panel.  “Ready boys?”  A piece of anxiousness still lingered in his tone.

Though Niall whooped and Liam gave an excited, “Absolutely.”

Louis exhaled to calm his nerves, with a more light-hearted, “Let’s get out of here, then, eh?”

He received various grades of anticipation in agreement from the other three, before Niall was sitting forward to flick a few switches and Liam began pulling up on the thrusters.

The hull began to vibrate as he did so, like it had when they’d lifted off from Earth.  It was a less intense vibration; the gravity’s pull on Neptune far easier on the spacecraft’s body than it had been on Earth. 

Though Louis’ heart was beating just as hard as it had the first time.

He couldn’t look over to see Harry, not with the way they were strapped in, but he reached out to grab his hand anyways. 

Louis was buzzing, an energy coursing through his veins as they lifted off from the icy planet.  The pressure increased tenfold as they broke through the atmosphere and Louis felt his insides flipping hard, pressed back into the seat just like he was.

He exhaled finally when they stabilized outside the pull of Neptune’s stratosphere.  He breathed even easier when he could pull his visor up to see Liam and Niall grinning back at him, where they’d turned to share their excitement.  And he unbuckled to face Harry, to see him smiling just the same.  Crater-like dimples pressed into his cheeks and eyes like stars.  He squeezed Harry’s hand through the suit and smiled himself when Harry squeezed back.

It seemed his epic outer space adventure wasn’t quite over yet and Louis knew it wouldn’t end even when they touched back down to Earth.

Because he was bringing his own little piece of space back with him.  Or, more precisely an unbelievably sweet, dorky, and charming extraterrestrial.  Who was, apparently, 10,000 years old.

Louis had known he’d be taking back the most amazing memories of space and stars and other planets to tell his family and friends about.  He hadn’t known he would also be bringing back an alien-boyfriend to introduce them to.

Louis’ family would absolutely love him.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to everyone who read this story and enjoyed it!
> 
> If you liked alien Harry and astronaut Louis enough and wanted to spread the word about it, the tumblr post for my fic is here: [Alone in a Sea of Stars](http://reeeallygood.tumblr.com/post/156822866117/alone-in-a-sea-of-stars-by-pandabear21-chapters)
> 
> Thanks everyone!


End file.
